Class 



BookJJ 



THE 

GARDENER'S 
MONTHLY VOLUME, 



THE Dx\.HLIA; 

ITS CULTURE, USES, AND HISTORY. 



BY GEORGE W. JOHNSON, 

Author of " The Dictionary of Modern Gardening," u Gardener's 
Almanack," &c. ; and 

J. TURNER, 

Florist, Chalvey, near Windsor, 



SEPTEMBER. 



LONDON: 

SLMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW, 

WINCHESTER: 
H. WOOLDRIDGE, HIGH-STREET. 



1847. 



Pat. Omoexa^ 



WINCHESTER : 
PRINTED BY H. WO OLD RIDGE, HIGH-STREET. 



CONTENTS. 



History. Named by Cavanilles,. 1. Brought to Europe from 
Mexico, 2. To England, by Lady Holland, 2. By the 
Marchioness of Bute, 3. First varieties raised at Berlin, 
4. Varieties raised at Holland House, 5. No blue vari- 
eties, 6. Double kinds, 7. Progress of their improve- 
ment, 8. Publications relative to this flower, 9. 

Botanical Character. Found in Mexico by Humboldt, 11. 
Sometimes survives the winter, 12. 

Varieties. None blue, 12. Fancy varieties, 13. Definitions 
of terms, 14. List of varieties, 15. 

Chemical Composition. Contains Dahline or Inuline, 23. 

Characteristics of Excellence. Varies greatly according 
to situation, &c, 24. Facts to be remembered as to new 
varieties, 25. Form, 26, 29. Colour, 28, 30. Defects, 
28,30. Size, 30. The plant, 31. Arrangement of stands, 
32, 33. Cutting blooms, 32. Treatment of cut blooms, 34 1 
Stands, &c, 35. 

Modes of Propagation. By seed, 36. Selection of parents* 
37. Selection of seed, 39. Treatment of seedlings, 40. 
Cuttings, 44. Forced shoots, 45. Cuttings from these, 
50. Eyes, 54. Grafting, 55. Blake's mode, 57. Fart- 
ing the roots, 58. Why this is best mode, 59. Autumn 
cuttings, 63. 



iv 



CONTENTS, 



Situation, Soil and Manures. Situation, 64. Shelter 
from wind, 65. Sloping borders, 66. Soil, 67. Prepa= 
ration, 68. Manures; Peat, 69. Dung to be avoided, 70. 
Nitrate of Soda, 71. 

Open-ground Culture. Planting, 71. Arrangement, 73. 
Staking, 75. Pruning, 76. Disbudding, 77. Watering, 
78. Mulching, 79. Tying-up, 80. Shelter, 81. Basket 
shade, 83. Blower-pot shade, 84, 86. Tin shade, 87. 
Autumn frosts, 88. Autumn and winter treatment, 88. 
Stored tubers, 90. Growing in dwarf masses, 91. Grow- 
ing in pots, 92. 

Forcing. The dahlia bears it well, 93. Its effects upon 
plants propagated from the forced tubers, 94. 

Diseases. Gangrene of tubers, 97. Running of colours, 98. 
Change of form, 101. 

Insects. Wireworm, 102. Earwig, 106. Thrips, 109. 

Uses. Stalks, Leaves, and Flowers, 110. 



THE DAHLIA. 



HISTORY. 

This most beautiful of our autumn border flowers 
being a native of the New World was totally unknown 
to the ancients ; indeed it was not recognized by 
botanists before the close of the last century, nor was 
it introduced to our gardeners until about forty years 
ago. 

The first discovered species of the genus is that 
known now to botanists as Dahlia supei*flua, or D. 
variabilis. It was found in 1789, and named by 
Cavanilles, a Spanish botanist, in honour of Dahl, a 
Swedish pupil of Linnaeus, and a cultivator of the 
same sciences. Some objections have been raised to 
the name of Dahlia on the ground that it too nearly 
resembles that before given to a very different genus, 
Dalea ; but this objection is not sufficient to counter- 
poise the greater inconveniences attendant upon a 
change of names. Willdenow, in 1803, gave it the 
names of Georgina pinnata, but though these were 



2 



adopted also by M. De Candolle and a few other 
distinguished botanists, the prior applied names have 
prevailed, and, according to established custom, have 
been generally retained. 

The plants from which three supposed species of 
this genus were described, were sent from the Botanic 
Garden at Mexico to the Royal Garden at Madrid, in 
which the one, called by Professor Cavanille, Dahlia 
Pinnata, flowered in October, 1789; his D. Rosea 
and D. Coccinea produced flowers a few years after- 
wards, and all were successfully figured and described 
by him in his " Icones — the first in 1791, the two 
last in 1794; they do not seem, however, to have 
been successfully treated, for with him they attained 
the height of three or four feet only, and did not 
flower till October. In 1802, plants of each were 
transferred from Madrid to the Jardin des Plantes at 
Paris, where they grew so well as to enable Mons. 
Thouin, in 1804, not only to describe and figure them, 
but also to treat on their cultivation. In May, 1804, 
seeds of the three kinds were sent from Madrid, by 
Lady Holland, to Mr. Buonainti, Lord Holland's 
librarian in England ; from these good plants were 
produced, one of which, the D. Pinnata, flowered in 
September following, and was figured by Andrews, in 
the "Botanist's Repository/' In the succeeding 
year, plants of the D. Rosea and the D. Coccinea also 
flowered in the gardens of Holland House. 



S 



Though this importation of the seeds was the most 
successful as to its produce (for from it nearly all the 
plants then in our gardens were obtained,) yet the 
original introduction of the first species was (on the 
authority of the Hortus Kewensis) from Spain, in 
1/89, by the Marchioness of Bute ; but it is probable 
that the plant so introduced was soon after lost, as 
we do not find any further notice taken of it. The 
other species, then called Coccinea, was actually 
flowered by Mr. John Frazer, who is said to have 
obtained it from France in 1802, the same year in 
which it was produced in the French gardens from 
seed procured from Madrid. It also appears, that in 
the autumn of 1803, Mr. Woodford flowered, at Vaux- 
hall, a plant of Cavanille's D. Rosea, which he had 
obtained from Paris ; so that, independently of one 
introduced by the Marchioness of Bute, in 1789, it 
seems that both species had flowered in this country 
before the seeds were transmitted by Lady Holland. 

At Madrid they were a long time in the Royal 
Garden without any indications of change ; and it 
will be seen that after they were spread through 
Europe, some years elapsed before any extensive in- 
crease of variation took place. 

Mons. De Candolle, it is said, obtained from Ma- 
drid the plants which he cultivated at Montpelier, 
about the same time they were sent to Paris. His 
Memoir was printed in 1810, and he therein describes 
b 2 



4 



only five varieties of D. super jlua, viz., Rubra, Pur- 
purea, Lilaci?ia, Pallida, and Flavescens, besides 
three varieties of D. Frustranea ; viz., Coccinea, 
Crocea, and Flava. Probably, when he wrote, he 
had not obtained any double flowers, though he evi- 
dently expected such would soon be produced. 

Mons. Otto, as early as 1800, obtained from Dres- 
den, for the Royal Garden at Berlin, a plant of the 
D. Pallida of the " Hortus Berolinensis and in 
1802, a plant of the B. purpurea, of the same work, 
was sent to him from Madrid ; but he had no new 
varieties from his own seed till 1806. 

The first introduction of the dahlia into the Royal 
Gardens at Berlin has been already noticed, as having 
occurred between 1800 and 1805. Mons. Otto in- 
formed Mr. Sabine that the chief varieties were raised 
between 1809 and 1817, but that the first which 
shewed themselves were produced in 1806 and 1807. 
About 1813 he began to pay more particular atten- 
tion to their cultivation, and improved their kinds by 
cross impregnations of the stigmata of the florets. 
The first double flower he possesssed came from 
Stutgard ; but a complete double one of his own 
flowered in 1809 ; it was dark red, exactly similar to 
that from Stutgard, but had, at first, blown only 
semi-double. Three more double ones were raised in 
1815 and 1816, and he had in 1820 no more than six 
with double flowers. A pure white single one was given 



5 



to him in 1809, and in 1810 he raised another white 
one himself. He mentions that in the Catalogues of 
the Nurseries at Berlin, from 80 to 100 sorts are 
enumerated for sale, but he considers the really good 
ones to be about thirty. 

In our own country we had an early promise of great 
success, and had we hit upon the right plan of ma- 
nagement, in keeping the plants when produced, there 
is no doubt but we should have been as equally suc- 
cessful as the continental gardeners in obtaining 
varieties. Mr. Buonainti saved seeds from the plants 
raised at Holland House, in 1804, the produce of 
which seeds he states to have given him, in the suc- 
ceeding year, nine varieties of that which was called 
D. Pinnata, two of which were double, one with lilac 
and the other with dark purple flowers ; of the single 
flowered plants, some were certainly dark coloured, 
four figures were published from them at the time ; the 
paler coloured varieties were chiefly considered as 
belonging to what was then called D. Rosea ; he had 
also two varieties of D. Coccinea, the original deep 
coloured one and a paler one, which, though called by 
him Crocata, was the pale yellow variety, as is appa- 
rent from the figure of it, published in the " Paradisus 
Londinensis. 5 ' 

Mr. Salisbury also obtained several varieties from 
the seeds which he received from Holland House in 
1806 ; these he had particularly noticed in his paper 



<3 



printed in the first volume of the Transactions of the 
Horticultural Society. In the fifth volume of the 
second edition of the Hortus Kewensis, which was 
published in 1813, the varieties of D. mperflua, there 
named, are Purpurea, Lilacina, and Nana ; the latter 
being taken from a double variety, figured in An- 
drews' " Botanical Repository/ 5 but which is cer- 
tainly not particularly entitled to be considered as a 
dwarf plant. No varieties of D.frustranea are given 
in the Hortus Kewensis. 

Mons. cle Candolle, in his essay on the genus, has 
observed, that it is not probable we shall ever see a 
blue one, since the variation is from purple to yellow. 
He considers blue and yellow to be the fundamental 
types of the colours of flowers, and that they mutually 
exclude each other : yellows pass readily into red or 
white, but never into blue : and in like manner, blue 
flowers are changed by cultivation into red and white, 
but never into yellow. (Hort. Trans, i. & iii., Gard. 
and Flor. ii. 66.) 

Until about forty years ago, no variety was known 
that did not possess a tinge of purple in its blossoms, 
and it was even doubted whether a blossom entirely 
untinged with purple could be produced. {Hort. 
$oc. Trans, vii.) 

When Mr. Sabine wrote on the dahlia in 1818, the 
single varieties only were abundant ; the number of 
double ones was very limited, but they rapidly in- 



creased, and have now nearly expelled the single ones 
from gardens of repute. The extension of sorts has, 
however, been limited to the Dahlia supei-flua ; the 
varieties of B. frustranea have but little multiplied, 
and no double flowers of that species have yet been 
produced. The brilliancy of the colours of the blos- 
soms of the D. frustranea, however, is such, that it 
might have been expected it would have induced 
some practical horticulturist to apply his skill to their 
improvement. 

A few of the double dahlias which were raised at 
an early period still hold a place in the estimation of 
gardeners, but in general those of a few years 5 stand- 
ing have yielded their places to a younger progeny, 
which in their turn may be deprived of their station 
by fresh productions. (Hort. Soc. Trans, vii. 141.) 

After 1814, the dahlia was introduced to more ge- 
neral notice, and cultivated in most collections ; but 
it was reserved for the intelligent cultivators of the 
last few years to circulate it more extensively, and 
make the most rapid advances towards a state of per- 
fection. Indeed, so lately as less than twenty years 
since it was considered a perfectly novel sight to wit- 
ness dahlias with double flowers in the garden of a 
tradesman or cottager ; but, owing to the astonishing 
rapidity with which new and good sorts have since 
been obtained and circulated, it is now quite as rarely 
that w 7 e see or meet with a cottager's garden which 



8 



does not contain at least a few good dahlias, and 
many possess plants of first-rate sorts. (Paxton on 
the Dahlia, 9.) 

In taking a retrospective view of the dahlia fancy, 
it is pleasing to remark the gradual improvement of 
this autumnal favourite up to the present time. This 
improvement is annually progressing towards greater 
perfection ; for, of late years, many of the finest va- 
rieties have been introduced ; and it is notorious that 
an established fine seedling, at the present time, will 
command a higher price than at any previous period. 
To mark the progress of the dahlia, the stand that 
obtained the ,£20 prize for the best twenty-four 
blooms at the Cambridge Dahlia Show in 1840, con- 
tained only one variety that was shown in the first 
stand of the same number of blooms at the Metropo- 
litan Exhibition of 1846, a brief period of six years. 
That variety was Springfield Rival, a flower of 13 or 
14 years' standing. Both stands were grown by Mr. 
Turner. The former was considered to be the best 
that has been produced up to that time, and the 
latter was certainly the best twenty-four he had 
shown during 1846. At Cambridge, Unique was 
what is termed the " bloom of the exhibition Pe- 
nelope, Amato, Hope, Conservative, Maid of Bath, 
and many other flowers now out of date, were stars 
in that superior stand. 

The publications which have hitherto appeared on 



9 



the dahlia are the following: — Cavanille's f, 'Icones 
Plantarum qua &c v in Hortis (Hispania) hospitau- 
tur," printed at Madrid in 1791, and subsequent 
years. "Mernoire sur la cellure des Dahlias, £c. par 
Mons. Thouin," in the third volume of the Annates 
da Museum* published at Paris in 1S04. A commu- 
nication from Mr. Buonainti, librarian to Lord Hol- 
land, on the dahlia, printed at the end of Macdon- 
ald's " Gardener's Dictionary " this appears to have 
been written about July 1806. "Observations on 
the different species of Dahlia, &c./ J by Mr. Salisbury, 
read April, 1808, before the Horticultural Society. 
" Observations on the Culture of the Dahlia in the 
northern parts of Great Britain," by Mr. "Wedge- 
wood, read before the Horticulral Society in Novem- 
ber, 1808, and published, together with the preced- 
ing, in the first volume of the Society's Transactions. 
The dahlias are described and noticed by Professor 
Willdenow, of Berlin, in his (: Enumeratio Plantarum 
Horti Regis Botanici Berolinensis," printed at Berlin, 
in 1809 a and in this he refers to the plates and des- 
criptions of the Hortis Berolinensis, in which they 
had been figured a short time before : and to his edi- 
tion of the Species Plantarum of Linneeus. "Note 
sur la Georgina (dahlia),'" by Mons. De Candolle, in 
the 15th volume of the Annates de la Museum, printed 
in 1810. Instructions for the cultivation of the 



10 



dahlias in France, are given by Mons. Dumont de 
Courset, in Le Botaniste Cultivateur. 

In 1812, at Paris, M. A. Thiebant de Berneaud, 
published " Memoire sur la culture des dahlies, &c ;" 
and in similar floricultural works, Mr. Hogg, Mr. 
Maddock, and others have written, in this country, 
upon dahlia culture. 

Figures of different varieties of the dahlia, with 
some observations on each, have, at various times, 
been published it the Paradisus Londinensis, the 
the Botanist's Repository, the Botanical Magazine, 
the Botanical Register, and other periodicals devoted 
to flowers. 

An expensive work, entitled "The Dahlia Regis- 
ter," intended to have been continued annually, was 
published in 1836. It contained 53 coloured plates 
of the best varieties then known. No other volume 
was published. In 1840, Mr. Paxton published "A 
Practical Treatise on the Cultivation of the Dahlia 
and Mr. Turner, in 1846, gave to the public his 
"Practical Observations on the Culture of the 
Dahlia." 

From all of the foregoing, we have culled the most 
useful information ; and this amalgamated with, and cor- 
rected by, our own later experience, will render, we be- 
lieve, this volume, the most useful and comprehensive 
authority on the culture of the dahlia that has hither- 
to appeared. 



11 



BOTANICAL CHARACTER. 

The Dahlia superfltja, parent of all the beautiful 
double varieties of our gardens, like the other species 
of the genus, is a native of Mexico. It was first dis- 
covered there by Baron Humboldt, growing in the 
sandy meadows of its mountain districts, at an eleva- 
tion of between four and five thousand feet above the 
sea. Humboldt sent it to the Botanical Gardens at 
Mexico, and thence, as we have already stated, it was 
transmitted to Madrid. 

The genus dahlia is included in the Syngenesia su- 
perflua Class and Order of the Linnsean System ; 
and in the Compositse of the Natural arrangement. 
Its characteristics are as follow. 

Common Calyx double ; the outer of several leaves, 
6 or 7, ovato-spatulate, reflexed ; inner of one leaf, 
cup-shaped, in several ovate segments. Corolla, 
compound, radiant ; florets of the centre perfect, 
with a tubular, stalked, five-cleft petal ; those of the 
radius fertile, with an ovate three-toothed petal, equal 
in number to the segments of the calyx. Stamens 
(in the perfect florets) filaments five, broadest at the 
base, inserted into the bottom of the petal ; anthers 
united into a tube. Pistil : Germen somewhat 
spatulate, obscurely triangular, notched at the top ; 



12 



style thread-shaped ; stigmas somewhat spreading, 
pubescent. Seeds solitary, shaped like the germen. 
Receptacle flat, chaffy ; the scales large, the middle 
ones keeled, the rest flat. Down none. 

Although the stems are too tender to endure the 
low temperatures of our winters, yet they are not 
strictly annual, for, we find that, in the mild climate 
of Devonshire, Mr. Murray, gardener at Taymouth 
Castle, had in the gardens there early in July, 1845, 
two dahlias, (Phenomenon and Andrew Hofer.) in 
full bloom, after having withstood the winter's cold, 
in the open air, preserving their previous year's stems 
and foliage. (Gard. Chron. 1845, 562.) 



VARIETIES. 

Every autumn of the last thirty years has added to 
numbers of our superior varieties, so that now they 
amount to many hundreds, and each characterised by 
some peculiarity of size, habit, form, and colour. It is 
satisfactory to the physiological botanist to find that, 
notwithstanding the great diversity of colour thus exhi- 
bited, still the conclusion arrived at by M. De Candolle 
remains intact. We have seen, as stated in a previous 
page, that he concluded upon scientific data that a blue 
dahlia would not be produced by the florist, and cer- 



13 



tainly no such colour has yet been found in the petals 
of the thousands of seedlings annually bloomed. 

We subjoin a list of dahlias, both show flowers, 
and those known as fancy varieties, which are the 
best out up to the present time, both for showing, 
and the flower border. An asterisk denotes those 
with long stout footstalks, which, with the fancy 
kinds, are best adapted for grouping and bedding out. 

Fancy Varieties. — There is still much differ- 
ence of opinion respecting what- really are fancy va- 
rieties, for we find flowers in some catalogues of fancy 
dahlias, which in others are described amongst the 
ordinary varieties. Our definition is that, all varie- 
ties with two or more colours may be termed fancy 
dahlias ; especially if the edges or tips are of a colour 
lighter than that of the chief surfaces of the petals. 
To be a valuable flower in this class, there should be 
great contrast, with an equal distribution of colour, 
whether it be tipped, striped, margined, or spotted. 

It will be useful to note the following definitions 
usually employed in describing dahlias. 

The appellation of florets should be applied in all 
cases to what have been improperly called the petals ; 
they are strictly, and especially in single flowers, the 
florets of the ray ; when there is an allusion to the 
short florets in the disk of the flowers, they are dis- 
tinctly the florets of the disc. The term quilled, 
in its strict sense, is applied to ligulate florets become 



14 



tubular, but it is generally used to express a tendency 
only to that habit. In the descriptions, for the sake 
of discriminating the differences with greater accuracy, 
the terms quilled and half-quilled, are used ; but for 
the latter term, somewhat quilled is not unfrequently 
substituted. The florets are said to be reflexed, when 
the whole are bent backwards, exposing the disc. 
They are recurved, when they are turned backwards 
at the points. The scales are the bracteee of the in- 
volucrum, and in single flowers are situated behind 
the florets of the ray, one scale belonging to each 
floret ; when the florets of the disc give way to, or 
are changed into, florets resembling those of the ray, 
the scale accompanies the transmutation, so that in 
double flowers a series of scales is found behind every 
series of florets, and when these scales appear in the 
centre or disc, without being accompanied by ligulatc 
florets, it is known, that although by some aborti 
they have not been produced, yet that whenever the 
plant blossoms perfectly, the flowers will be entirely 
double, that is, devoid of disc. These scales cannot 
be confounded with the small scales or paleae of the 
receptacle, the former being much larger, and gene- 
rally dark green. (Hort. Soc. Trans, vii. 144.) 



15 



WHITE. 

* Antagonist (Bragg), 1843, height 4 ft. 
Empress of Whites (Heale), 1845, 2 ft . 
Princess Helena (Gaines), 1847, 3 to 4 ft. 
I Queen of Sheba (Watkinson), 1847, 4 ft. 
Schneerose von Esterthab (Deegen), 1846, 4 ft. 

WHITE ; TIPPED, EDGED, AND SHADED WITH 
CRIMSON. 

Beauty of Sussex (Mitchell), 1843, 3 ft. 
Belicata (Turner), 1847, 4 ft. 

* Emily (Dosset), 1847, 4 to 5 ft. 
Marquis of Worcester (Sealey), 1847, 4 ft. 
*Xorthern Beauty (Robinson), 1842, 6 ft. 
Princess Radziwell (Gaines), 1846, 3 to 4 ft. 
*®°ah (Drummond), 1846, 3 to 4 ft. 

Star (Bragg), 1847. 

WHITE ; TIPPED OR EDGED WITH PURPLE OR 
LILAC. 

Alice Hawthorn (Sainsbury), 1845, 4 ft. 
Beauty of the Plain (Spary), 1840, 3 ft. 
*Lady St. Maur (Brown), 1844, 4 ft. 
*Lady of the Lake (Keynes), 1847, 4 ft. 
*Lady Featherstone (Spary), 1846, 4 to 5 ft. 



16 



Marguarita (Paris), 1847, 4 ft. 
Metropolitan Queen (Jullien), 1847, 4 ft. 
*Miss Vyse (Turner), 1847, 3 ft. 

YELLOW. 

* Cleopatra (Attwell), 1845, 6 ft. 
Goldfinder (Bushell), 1847, 4 ft. 

Yellow Standard (Keynes), 1847, 3 to 4 ft. 

ORANGE AND BUFF. 

Aurantia (Spaiy), 1844, 3 to 4 ft. 

* Bertha Von Gena (Koek), 1846, 4 ft. 
*Biondetta (Paragot), 1845, 6 ft. 

* Countess of Brandon (Spary), 1846, 5 ft. 
Gloria Mundi (Headley), 1845, 5 ft. 
Golden Fleece (Pearce), 1847, 4 ft. 
Lady Leicester (Girling), 1845, 5 ft. 
Princess de Joinville (Fourquet), 1846, 3 ft. 

LILAC. 

*Athelete, 1844, 4 to 5 ft. 
ChefoVOuvre (Dubras), 1846, 4 ft. 
DasinsM, 1846, 4 ft. 
*Mrs. Anderson (Girling), 1846, 5 ft. 
Queen of Perpetuate (Girling), 1846, 2 to 3 ft. 
vi^orine (Bushell), 1847, 4 ft. 



17 



Pl'RPLE. 

*Bermondsey Bee (Prockter), 1844, 4 ft. 

* Candidate (Silverlock), 1842, 6 ft. 
*Floribunda (Pearce), 1846, 6 ft. 

* Pickwick (Cormack), 1840, 4 ft. 

* Prometheus (Wildman), 1846, 6 ft. 

PEACH LILAC. 

Dawn of Day (Mitchell), 1846, 3 ft, 
Rose d 9 Amour (Brawn), 1846, 4 ft. 

DARK SHADED. 

Raphael (Brown), 1844, 4 ft. 

* Vanguard (Turner), 1846, 3 to 4 ft. 

SCARLET AND ORANGE SCARLET. 

* Baron Von Rothschild (Werker), 4 ft. 
Duchess de Montpensier, 1846, 4 ft. 
Nonpareil (Prockter), 1844, 4 ft. 
Scarlet Gem (Turner), 1847, 4 ft. 

CRIMSON AND ROSY CRIMSON. 

* Beeswing (Sainsbury), 1845, 4 ft. 
*Capt. Warner (Girling), 1846, 3 to 4 ft. 
Caractacus (Sorrell), 1846, 4 ft. 

* Cassandra (Fellows), 1847, 6 ft. 

c 



18 



Br. Graham (Girling), 1846, 4 ft, 
*Erectum (Mitchell), 1846, 4 ft. 
Lord St. Maur (Wheeler), 1847, 4 ft. 

* Louis Philippe (Turner), 1847, 5 ft. 

* Perpetual Grand (Brown), 1843, 5 ft. 

* President of the West (Whale), 1840, 5 to 6 ft. 
*Sir E. Antrobus (Keynes), 1846, 5 ft. 

* Springfield Rival (Inwood), 1833, 5 to 6 ft. 
* Standard of Perfection (Keynes), 1844, 4 ft. 

* Victory of Sussex (Stanford), 1843, 6 ft. 

DARK CRIMSON AND MAROON. 

* Admiral Stopford (Trenfield), 1842, 5 ft. 
Berry er (Turner), 1847, 4 ft.* 

* Essex Triumph (Turrille), 1843, 4 ft. 
*Octavian (Pearce), 1846, 4 ft. 

* Queen of Gipsies (Girling), 1844, 5 ft. 

ROSE. 

Adonis (Dubras), 1847, 4 ft. 

Competitor (Hodges), 1841, 3 ft. 

Dowager Lady Cooper (Jackson), 1842, 4 ft. 

*Duchess of Richmond (Fowler), 1839, 5 ft. 

Exemia (Girling), 1843, 3 to 4 ft. 

Felix (Drummond), 1847, 4 ft. 

* This is the darkest variety known, and a valuable acquisi- 
tion. — G. W. J. 



19 



*Lady Stopford (Trenfield), 1846, 5 ft. 

Queen (Widnall), 1841, 4 ft. 

Queen of Roses (Widnall), 1844, 3 ft. 

Rosetta (Girling), 1847, 4 ft. 

Sir J. S. Richardson (Sharp), 1844, 4 ft. 

ROSY PURPLE OR LILAC. 

Essex Rosy Lilac (Turville), 1846, 3 ft. 
Fulwood Hero (Teebay), 1845, 4 ft. 

* Indispensable (Girling), 1841, 5 ft. 
Marquis of Aylesbury (Spary), 1846, 3 ft. . 
Mrs. Shelly (Mitchell), 1843, 4 ft. 

BLUSH. 

Beauty of Hants (Oakley), 1846, 4 ft. 
^Marchioness of Cornwallis (Whale), 1846, 3 to 4 ft. 
Miss Sarah (Edwards), 1846, 4 ft. 

BUFF, TIPPED OR EDGED. 

Andromeda (Collison), 1847, 5 ft. 

Melanie Adam, 4 ft. 

Princess Royal (Hudson), 1842, 5 ft. 

YELLOW-EDGED OR TIPPED WITH RED. 

* Aurora (Hale), 1847, 4 ft. 
Lady Sale (Smith), 1845, 3 to 4 ft, 

* Madame Zehler (Zehler), 1846, 4 ft. 
Serviteur de Madame Zehler (Zehler), 1847, 4 ft. 

c 2 



20 



FANCY DAHLIAS. 

CRIMSON, WITH "WHITE TIPS OR STRIPED. 

Erecta (Girling), 4 ft. 
Hector (Freulle), 4 ft. 
Hermione (Mohring), 4 ft. 
Ludwig Marquard (Sieckrnan), 3 ft. 
Prima Donna (Spary), 3 to 4 ft. 
Quinola (Poulet), 3 ft. 

RED, WITH WHITE TIPS OR STRIPES. 

Admirable (Girling), 3 ft. 

Baron Hugely 4 to 5 ft. 

Boquet de Bruiel, 3 to 4 ft. 

Harlequin (Dodd), 4 ft. 

Ludwig Pemsl (Deegen), 4 ft. 

Nihil (Baillie), 5 ft. 

Schone Von Zerbst (Hoffman), 4 ft. 

Stern Von Zerbst (Hoffman), 3 to 4 ft. 

PURPLE, TIPPED OR STRIPED WITH WHITE. 

Erzherzog Stephan (Deegen), 4 ft. 
Eugene Sue (Mea), 3 to 4 ft. 
Eveque de Dijon (Panlet), 4 ft. 
Gizelle (Truelle), 3 ft. 
Madame Wachy (Wachy), 4 ft. 



21 



Master Edward Clayton (Jeffrey), 4 to 5 ft. 

Master George Clayton (Jeffrey), 4 ft. 

Miss Watson (Girling), 4 ft. 

Pantaloon (Bragg), 4 to 5 ft. 

Souvenir (Girling), 4 ft. 

Sully (Cressac), 3 to 4 ft. 

Surprise (Oakley), 3 to 4 ft. 

YELLOW, TIPPED WHITE, 

Adolph Buhras (Vicomte de Ressequier), 4 ft. 
Mimosa (Truelle), 2 to 3 ft. 
Queen of the French (Burgess), 4 ft. 
Thomirin, 4 ft. 

MAROON, WHITE TIPS. 

Madame Wallner (Girling), 4 to 5 ft. 
Ober Justizrath von Werthoff (Miller), 4 ft. 
Boi des Points (Batteur), 4 to 5 ft. 

ROSE, ROSY LILAC, AND WHITE. 

Bijou (Vicomte de Ressequier), 4 ft. 

Bijou de Closhault, 4 ft. 

Bijou de Dijo?i, 3 to 4 ft. 

Madame Chauviere (Girling), 4 to 5 ft. 

Madame Dresser (Deegen), 3 ft. 

Miss Maria Clayton (Jeffrey), 4 ft. 



22 



CARMINE AND WHITE. 

Coquette (Schmidt), 5 ft. 
Fra Diavolo (Girardoni), 4 ft. 
Triumph von Magdeburg (Ekrig), 4 ft. 

BUFF OR SALMON, TIPPED. 

Captivation (Salter), 3 to 4 ft. 

VARIOUS STRIPED, SPOTTED, ETC. 

Alexander Schultz (Deegeo), 4 ft £ 

Goldfinch (Turrelle), 4 ft. 

La Carnation (Girling), 3 ft. 

Mirocolant (De Knuff), 3 ft. 

Multicolor Admirahilis (Mardner), 3 to 4 ft. 

Triumph Von Anhalt (Hoffman), 4 ft. 

Zebra, Yeeles, 4 to 5 ft. 



23 



CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 

We have no entire analysis of any part of the dahlia, 
but chemists have ascertained that its tubers contain 
a large proportion of a peculiar feculous substance, to 
which the name of Dahline or Inuline has been given. 
It chiefly differs from starch in one property, viz., that 
the latter is rendered blue when treated with iodine, 
whereas iodine imparts to dahline a yellow colour. 

Dahline is found in the roots of many other plants, 
such as those of the Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthas 
tuberosus), Pellitory of Spain (Anthemis pyrethrum), 
Meadow Saffron (Colchicam autumnale), Succory 
(Cichorium intybus), Dandelion (Leontodon tarax- 
acum), Angelica {Angelica archangelica), Elecampane 
(Corvisartia (Inula) helenium), and Datisca canna- 
bina.* 

When the roots of any of the above plants are 
rasped, subjected to pressure, boiled in water, the infu- 
sion filtered through linen while hot, boiled until a 
pellicle forms on the surface, and then left to cool, a 
white powder precipitates. This is dahline, and only 
requires to be collected on a filter, well washed and 
dried. One hundred parts of the roots of the dahlia 

* Chemists, considering that they had discovered in each case 
a new principle, have called dalhine by other names, as Inuline, 
or Helenine, when found in Inula helenium ; Alantine, when 
from the Angelica ; and Datiscine, when from the Datisca. 



24 



yield 10, of inula 11, 1, of leontodon 12, and of 
cichorium 1 2% of dahline. (RaspaiVs Organic Chemis- 
try, 137.) 



CHARACTERISTICS OF EXCELLENCE. 

"We know of no flower more totally altered by cultiva- 
tion than the dahlia, and not any one only acquainted 
with that flower in its natural form, reading the cha- 
racteristics we shall presently record as requisite to 
be combined for entitling a variety to be classed among 
first-rate flowers, could conceive that they are applica- 
ble to its progeny. 

Before proceeding to the detail of those desired 
characteristics, we must place before our readers some 
most excellent warnings against the hasty condemna- 
tion of a variety that may seem not to be permanent 
in its excellencies. 

The dahlia, it is truly said, is subject to vary so 
much in different situations and seasons, that great 
difficulty exists in gaining an accurate knowledge of 
the merits of each kind, especially of those which have 
been only seen for one season. The circumstances 
under which it is grown are also so various, that 
unless you see the plant, you cannot fairly judge of 
the merits of the flower. Great attention is requisite, 
in order, if possible, to find out what particular culture 



25 



a given plant has been subjected to ; for example, 
whether the shoots have been much thinned, the 
flowers shaded, much manure given, or none at all, 
&c. 

The following facts with regard to new kinds of 
dahlias should always be borne in mind before con- 
demning them the second year : — 

1 . That the seedling plant is much debilitated by 
propagation, and therefore the flowers are rarely as 
good the second season as they are the .first and 
third. 

2. That the best flowers are obtained from those 
plants struck from the first cuttings produced by the 
mother plant, notwithstanding that they are seldom 
as strong as the cuttings that are afterwards pro- 
duced. 

3. That exciting the roots by means of a strong 
heat early in the spring, and striking the young plants 
on a strong dung bed, tend to weaken the plants so 
treated to such a degree, that they frequently require 
two or three seasons to recover, and regain their 
original character. Thus, it is found that good flowers 
are obtained with the least trouble from those plants 
kept in pots the first season after striking (termed by 
the trade pot-roots) ; planted out the following season, 
and allowed to start of their own accord. 

4. That in wet seasons manure is frequently very 



26 



injurious, from its causing the plant to grow luxu- 
riantly, and thus to produce but few flowers ; while 
in very dry seasons, it is equally beneficial. Much 
more depends on a change of soil, than on its com- 
position and quality. 

5. That water is a point which cannot be too much 
attended to ; a great difference is caused in the same 
flower by hard and soft water; but still more depends 
on the manner in which it is applied, for one or two 
good waterings are much better than a small quantity 
given three or four times a week. 

6. That taking up the roots immediately after a 
frost has destroyed the top, is the principal cause of 
so many roots dying during the winter season. ( Gard. 
Chron. 1841, 19.) 

The most just codes of excellence relative to the 
dahlia have been promulgated by Mr. "Wildman and 
Mr. Glenny, agreeing on the principal points, but 
each so supplying deficiencies occurring in the other, 
as to induce us to republish both. 

The first is the code of Mr. "Wildman, communi- 
cated by him to the London Floricnltural Society, 
and approved by that association. 

I. Form. — The outline, in profile, should be 
that of about two-thirds of a globe or sphere, and as 
shewn in this engraving, the rows of florets forming 



27 



this ^lobular outline should describe unbroken con- 




centric circles lying above each other with evenness 
and regularity, and gradually diminishing till they 
approach the crown. The florets forming these rows 
should be spirally arranged, and alternate, like the 
scales of a fir cone ; those in each superior row con- 
cealing the joints in the row beneath, and causing the 
circle to be unbroken and complete. They should be 
broad at the ends, perfectly free from notch or inden- 
tation of any kind, firm in substance, smooth in tex- 
ture, uniform in size, and evenly and freely expanded 
in each row, but largest in the outer ones, gradually 
and proportionably diminishing until they approach 
the crown, where they should gently turn the reverse 
way, pointing inwards, and forming a neat and close 
centre. 



28 



II. Colour. — If in a self, it should be dense 
and clear ; if in an edged flower, concentrated and 
well-defined: in both cases it should penetrate 
through the petal, with an appearance of substance 
and solidity. 

Defects. — The following are the defects : — In 
Form — Want of roundness or of depth, flatness of 
face, squareness of shoulder, sinking in the centre. 
In the Rows — "Wide interstices between the florets in 
each row, or between the rows themselves ; broken 
circles, overhanging each other, or diminishing 
abruptly ; want of arrangement, and looseness. In 
the Floret — Notches or indentations on the edge, 
sharp points, angularity, cupping too deeply with 
wide mouths ; abrupt hollows in the face, or ribbi- 
ness ; being too broad, coarse, or overwrapping each 
other sideways, or being too narrow and guttery, or 
not touching each other in the rows ; quilling or 
curling, or shewing the back in any manner ; curling 
too much upwards, turning quite back, or being up- 
right in the centre ; want of substance, and not con- 
cealing the scale. In the Colour — Cloudy, not mot- 
tled ; thinly laid on in patches or in spots, or vari- 
able ; not being the same at the back as on the face 
of the petal. In Size — Being below the average, or 
so large as to be coarse. Disqualifications — Shewing 
yellow disk or a hard and scaly centre, cross eye, 
petals damaged in any manner, blooms dead or decay- 



29 



ing. The object ought to be to obtain freedom with- 
out looseness, boldness without coarseness, and sym- 
metry and uniformity without stiffness or formality. 
(Gard. Chron. 1843, 87.) 

Mr. Glenny's code of excellence is comprised in 
these requirements : — 

L Form. — The flower should be a perfect circle 
when viewed in front ; the petals should be broad at 
the ends, smooth at the edges, thick in substance, 
perfectly free from indenture or point, stiff to hold its 
form ; should cup a little, but not enough to shew 
the under surface. They should be in regular rows, 
forming an outline of a perfect circle, without any 
vacancy between them ; and all in the circle should 
be the same size, uniformly opened to the same shape, 
and not rubbed or crumpled. 

2. The flower should form two-thirds of a ball when 
looked at sideways. The rows of petals should rise 
one above another in rows ; every petal should cover 
the join of the two petals under it — what the florists 
call imbricating — by which means the circular appear- 
ance is perfected throughout. 

3. The centre should be perfect ; the unbloomed 
petals lying with their points towards the centre, 
should form a button, and should be the highest part 
of the flower completing the ball. 

4. The flower should be symmetrical. The petals 
should open boldly, without showing their under-side, 



30 



even 'when half opened, and should form circular 
rows, uniformly laid, evenly opened, and enlarging by 
degrees to the outer row of all. 

5 . The flower should be very double. The rows of 
petals laying one above another, should cover one 
another very nearly ; not more should be seen in 
depth than half the breadth ; the more they are 
covered, so as to leave them distinct, the better in 
that respect ; the petals, therefore, though cupped 
must be shallow. 

6. Size. — The size of the flower when well grown 
should be less than four inches in diameter, and not 
more than six. 

7. Colour. — The colour should be dense, what- 
ever it be — not as if it were a white dipped in colour, 
but as if the whole flower was coloured throughout. 
Whether tipped or edged, it must be free from 
splashes or blotches, or indefinite marks of any kind ; 
and new flowers, unless they beat all old ones of the 
same colour, or are of a novel colour themselves, with 
a majority of the points of excellence, should be re- 
jected. 

Defects. — If the petals show the under side too 
much, even when looked at sideways — if they do not 
cover each other well — if the centre is composed of 
petals pointing upwards, or those which are round the 
centre are confused — if the petals are too narrow, or 
exhibit too much of their length — or if they show 



31 



any of the green scale at the bottoms of the petals — 
if the eye is sunk — if the shoulder is too high, the 
face flat, or the sides too upright — if the petals show 
an indenture as if heart-shaped — if the petals are too 
large and coarse, or are flimsy, or do not hold their 
form : in any or all these cases the flowers are objec- 
tionable ; and if there be one or two of these faults 
conspicuous, the flower is second or third-rate. 

If flowers are exhibited which shew the disc, or a 
green scale, or have been eaten by vermin, or damaged 
by carriage, or are evidently decayed,, the censors 
should reject them at once. 

Characteristics of the Plant. — Although the form 
of the plant is quite of secondary consideration, and 
is only to be regarded as subservient to the more im- 
portant consideration of exhibiting the flowers to more 
advantage as they grow, yet it is a matter worthy of 
some notice. Mr. Paxton's observations upon it are 
very judicious. He says, the general figure should 
be uniform and compact, that is, it should gradually 
enlarge from the lowest lateral shoots to the extre- 
mity of those highest, and it should be devoid of a 
straggling or rambling habit. Secondly, the plant 
should be disposed to bloom freely and numerously. 
Thirdly, its blossoms should stand out clearly from 
the foliage, on short, strong flower-stalks, so as to be 
presented boldly and advantageously. (Paxton on 
the Dahlia, 99 J 



32 



OF STANDS OR COLLECTIONS. 

Variety of colour forms a distinct excellence, and 
if disposed uniformly, it is another excellence ; a 
third excellence is contrast. If light and dark flowers, 
and middling, weie in a stand of twenty-four, there 
are several ways of being uniform : say L means 
light, D dark, M middling, the following would be 
instances of uniformity :— 

LDMLLMDL 
M L D M M D L M 
D M L D D L M D 



L 


M 


D 


L 


D 


L 


M 


D 


L 


M 


D 


L 



(GarcL and Flor, i. 5 Q.J 



L 


D 


M 


L 


D 


M 


L 


D 


L 


D 


M 


L 



CUTTING BLOOMS TO SHOW. 

For this purpose, it is necessary to look more to 
fine flowers than to new sorts. Look well to the pro- 
perties of the flowers, and take those which approach 
the nearest to perfection in form, whether they be 
old or new. In making up a stand, contrast of colour 
should, however, be observed as much as possible, 
and they should be placed on the stand uniformly : 



33 



there should be colours of about the same depth at 
the four corners, and if these are light, those next to 
the corner ones should be dark ; but there are several 
modes of doing them uniformly. The top and 
bottom row should be alike as to their colour. Sup- 
pose the stand to be twelve, they may be arranged 
either of the ways pointed out here, or any other 
way that preserves uniformity. 



Light 


Dark 


• Dark 


Light 


Dark 


Middling 


Middling 


Dark 


Light 


Dark 


Dark 


Light 


Dark 


Middling 


Middling 


Dark 


Light 


Dark 


Dark 


Light 


Dark 


Light 


• Light 


Dark 



Half the stands are spoiled by putting too many 
dark purples in them ; and although form ought to be 
the first consideration, contrast and order, or unifor- 
mity, adds greatly to the merit of a stand. (Gard. 
and Flor. ii. 30.) 

Selecting the blooms for exhibition often puzzles 
the most experienced growers ; the dark selfs being 
so much more numerous and superior in shape to the 
light flowers ; that, in selecting twenty-four, one or 
two points often have to be sacrificed — either shape, 
or contrast in colours. We recommend that as much 
diversity of colour should be introduced as possible, 

D 



34 



with due regard to shape and perfect centres. Much 
can be done by arrangement ; yet we often see stands 
contain a whole row of flowers of great similarity. 
At all times place deep circular flowers at the four 
corners ; and select quality before size. If a bloom 
is observed to be shaky behind, or inclined to open in 
the centre, when packing up your box, it may safely be 
concluded that it will not make one of the number 
required, by the time it is wanted. Discard it at 
once, and look for the next best of the same sort. 

If the blooms are intended to travel a long distance, 
provide plenty of young ones in addition. 

Never, unnecessarily, handle the blooms. It should 
be remembered that all this pains-taking has been to 
produce them in the highest state of perfection, to be 
looked at only. The dead appearance caused by 
rough usage can never be removed. {Turner on the 
Dahlia, 6.) 

Mr. Glenny, whose opinions on all points connected 
with floriculture merit attention, recommends {Gard. 
Gaz. 137) that for exhibition, dahlia blooms should 
be cut before too old ; the boxes soaked in water for 
an hour or two before the blooms are packed in them ; 
and when taken out, not to be touched, as there will be 
a brilliant fresh dew upon them. If the stoppers of 
the tubers be soaked at the same time, they swell all 
they can, and there is no doing so after they are in 
the tubes. If stoppers are absent, they may be 



35 



made of potatoes ; and the blooms should be so high 
above the tubes that the lower petals do not touch 
the board. 

Exhibiting Stand. — Dr. Lindley says, the dimen- 
sions of a dahlia stand for twelve blooms should be 
twenty-two inches long by sixteen and a half wide, 
four in depth, and five and a quarter from tube to 
tube : sixteen and a half by eleven and a quarter will 
be the proportion for a stand of six. The surface of 
stands is generally painted a light green ; a colour 
which shows the flowers off to the greatest advantage. 
{Gard. Chron.) 

For sending dahlias to a distance, a wooden funnel, 
not unlike a hyacinth glass in shape, has been in- 
vented by Mr. Pratt, head gardener to W. Harrison, 
Esq., Gothic Cottage, Cheshunt. The stalk of the 
dahlia is thrust down the tube of this funnel, whilst 
its blossom rests in, and is protected by, the basin of 
the funnel. Each dahlia bloom has its funnel, and 
the funnels are inserted in holes made at regular 
distances in a tin plate, which forms a cover to a 
shallow box containing moistened moss. So treated, 
dahlias will remain fresh for a week, and may be 
sent to any distance. {Gard. Mag. v. 526, N.S.) 



d 2 



36 



MODES OF PROPAGATION. 

Like other tuberous-rooted plants, the dahlia can be 
propagated in more modes than can other plants of a 
different form. 

By Seed. — Varieties only can be obtained in this 
mode, for no seedling exactly resembles its parent ; 
though cross-breeding — an intermixture of parents — 
has great influence in determining the properties or 
characteristics of the offspring. 

Although the parentage has great influence, yet the 
influence is not paramount, for, as Mr. Wildman has 
justly observed, so much depends upon accident, or 
circumstances over which we have no control, that it 
is difficult to recommend one in particular as a desir- 
able parent to breed from. The amateur should be 
warned, however, that seeds from thin flowers gene- 
rally, although their style be good, produce seedlings 
that end in disappointment. "Windsor Rival is an 
example. Constancy in the parent, Mr. TTildman 
thinks a matter of little moment, provided defective 
blooms are immediately removed, and none but 
the best left for seed. Brightness and clearness of 
colour are desirable, but no dependence can be 
placed upon the exact colours that will be pro- 
duced. If hybridization is resorted to, the best 
blooms, whether occasional or otherwise, from which 



37 



seed might be obtainable should be selected, the co- 
lours chosen being distinct and contrasted, and not 
compound. To those who would not take the trouble 
to resort to artificial fertilization, which is not needed 
if a few of the very best varieties, including one or 
two that seed most freely, should be planted together, 
apart from all others ; the chances then would be far 
more in favour of valuable seedliugs beings engen- 
dered. 

In making a selection to seed from, the habit or 
the plant should not be overlooked, there being but 
little beauty in those flowering beneath the foliage, 
or of drooping habit, unless the latter are tall growers, 
such as the Countess of Liverpool. Substance of 
petal is perhaps the most important point ; without 
this, the colour, or the bloom itself, stands but a very 
short time. Those varieties possessing this quality 
in the greatest degree have the most glossy or velvety 
appearance on the face of the petal. The following 
would be a good dozen to plant out for this purpose : 
Marchioness of Comwallis, Berry er, Beauty of Sus- 
sex, Lady St. Maur, Nonpareil, Standard of Perfec- 
tion, Scarlet Gem, Queen of Sheba, Master George 
Clayton, Yellow Standard, Princess Radziwill, and 
Beeswing. Even the finest, and what are termed 
the most constant flowers, produce blooms that 
should at once be removed : for this purpose the plants 
should often be examined, as it is impossible to dis- 



38 



tinguish the good from the bad when gathering the 
seed. And more, the thin blooms possess so much 
fertilizing matter, from which the bees would injure 
the whole. 

For the production of seed the plants should be 
devoted to the purpose. All but a few of the upper- 
most shoots should be pruned away as they appear, 
and from these, the first flowers, which are rarely 
good, should be removed. Mr. Paxton adds, that 
about twenty or thirty flowers should be left, and of 
these only the finest and best formed be bred from. 
As soon as each reserved disk begins to expand, it 
should be covered with thin muslin or gauze to prevent 
any fecundation by the wind or by bees, from other 
and undesired varieties. As soon as the florets open, 
the pollen from the wished-for male parent may be 
introduced to them during two or three successive 
da} T s, by the aid of a camel' s-hair pencil ; this opera- 
tion to be repeated to each floret as it expands ; and 
the flowers to be kept covered as before directed, until 
the danger of casual fertilization is passed. 

In collecting the seeds, Mr. Paxton recommendsthat 
the outer circle of them, and those in the very centre 
of the disc, should be discarded, the first usually pro- 
ducing single flowers, and the others being imperfectly 
formed. {Paxton on the Dahlia, 68.) 

Glory of Plymouth has, to the great astonishment 
of all who possessed the slightest knowledge of the 



39 



parts of the flower, been repeatedly recommended as 
a good flower from which to save seed. Now, Glory 
of Plymouth is one of the most double flowers that 
has ever yet been raised, and, like Globe Crimson, 
full to the centre ; and it might be asserted, without 
fear of contradiction, that it never has been seeded 
from, and that it is incapable of bearing seed. This 
is not a matter of opinion, but one of fact ; and any 
misstatement can be easily disproved. 

If all the imperfect blooms had been removed from 
"Windsor Rival, not more than one pod of seed could 
have been obtained in a season. 

We have already noticed which seed should be re- 
jected ; and we may now observe that, that which is to 
be preserved should be collected on a fine day, and, 
after drying thoroughly, be rubbed out from the 
heads, and kept dry until required for sowing. If 
kept in the heads they are liable to become mouldy. 

The seed ought to be sown about the middle of 
March on a slight hotbed, to get the plants up early ; 
and which, if properly attended to, will flower the 
same year ; the young plants ought to be pricked out 
as soon as they are fit — three or four in a No. 48 pot ; 
and as they advance in growth, they may be shifted 
a month after into small 60 pots, one in each pot ; 
which, after it has grown in strength and size, may 
be shifted again into a 48, there to remain, till turned 
into the ground about the third week of May : in 



40 



their young and tender state, take care to protect 
them from cold and frost, so that they receive no 
check either to retard or spoil their growth. (Hogg's 
App. 196.) Our own practice is to prick the seed- 
lings, singly, into 48s, to remain until fit to be planted 
out in the open border. 

Where seedlings are grown by the florist, it is, 
generally, in such numbers that protection at night is 
impossible. The fault of protection being required 
lies in almost every one sowing too early. It was 
usual at one time to sow about Christmas ; we now 
sow the first of April, and bloom them a month sooner 
than formerly, with half the trouble. If planted 
early, the check is mostly from cutting, cold winds, 
throwing them back several weeks. Hence the prin- 
cipal object being to keep the plants dwarf. 

Mr Sabine, late secretary to the Horticulture So- 
ciety of London, has left on record suggestions for 
raising seedlings that are still worthy of attention. 
The seed, he says, should be gathered from those 
plants whose colours and character are most likely to 
please, always taking from the dwarfer ones, where 
no preference exists on other accounts. Many of the 
seedlings will follow their parent ; therefore, all that 
are raised will now be new varieties. Double flower- 
ing plants are more likely to spring from the seeds of 
semi-double flowers, than from those of quite single 
ones ; and the chances are, that seeds obtained from 



41 



those particular florets of the disc, which have altered 
their form, may have a greater tendency than others 
to produce plants with double flowers. 

The young plants, pricked out into pots or boxes, 
and left under cover in warmth until the end of April, 
may be planted out then where they are to remain, 
covering each plant for some time with an empty pot 
at night, to avoid injury from spring frosts. Where 
single dahlias have been planted the preceding year, 
many young plants will arise from self-sown seeds ; 
these may remain in their original place, or be re- 
moved. The seedlings should be planted in rows 
three feet apart, and two feet distant from each other 
in the row ; this will allow sufficient space for a person 
to walk between them to examine the different varie- 
ties. Every alternate row may be two feet, if space 
is an object, thus forming them into beds, leaving 
plenty of room to look over them twice a week to 
weed out the single flowers, thus giving sufficient 
space for the promising plants to bloom in character. 
They thrive best in rich loam, and require a clear open 
space to grow in, the shelter of trees or of walls being 
injurious to them. They seem to suffer in some gar- 
dens, if planted often in the same place ; therefore, 
where there is not space to enable the grower to move 
their quarters in successive years, it will be advisable 
to add some fresh maiden earth to the soil, when they 
are to be continued in the same spot. As they are 



42 



liable to much damage from the wind, they should be 
carefully tied to stakes as they grow. The seedling 
plants thus treated will blow in July, and will con- 
tinue in perfection till the autumn, but the first frost 
injures their foliage and the beauty of the flowers, 
which may, however, be preserved somewhat longer, 
by moving the smaller plants with balls of earth into 
large pots, and keeping them under cover in the green- 
house or conservatory. 

Until a seedling plant shows it flowers, there are no 
means of ascertaining its value ; the stems of those 
which produce dark flowers are generally brown, or 
a dark purple ; whilst the paler flowers grow on plants 
with lighter stems, and the white flowering ones with 
perfectly green stems ; but even these distinctions are 
not constant. It is worthy of remark, that those 
seedlings that take the lead and bloom first, seldom, 
if ever, produce a flower worth preserving ; these are 
from the finest seeds and thinnest blooms ; they vege- 
tate first, and keep a-head all through the season, and 
can easily be distinguished by their tall habit, without 
side-branches ; whereas the late, small plants, that re- 
quire nursing to make them bloom before the frost 
arrives, generally produce the best flowers ; as it is 
well known that very few of our best seedlings are 
ever shown the first season of their blooming. These 
are from the smallest seeds, and very double flowers. 
The proper time to judge of the full merit of the 



43 



flowers, and consequently to select the plants, is the 
morning, for the sun injures the brilliancy of the 
flowers ; and the summer's flowers are much superior 
in beauty to those produced later in the season ; 
though in September and October, before any frost 
comes, the quantity of flowers which are then in blow 
at once, makes the show at that period the most 
splendid. (Hort. Soc. Trans.) 

Mr. Glenny says that as the seedlings come up air 
should be given to them, to prevent them drawing. 
As soon as they are large enough, which will be when 
they have six leaves, they may be planted singly in 
thumb-pots, and replaced in the frame, or three, four, 
or more in pots of a larger size ; and by the time the 
heat of the frame has declined, they will be strong 
enough to withstand the weather, if they are covered 
at night, and during frosts. 

Those who sow in large quantities will do well to 
defer sowing until the beginning of April ; inserting 
the seed in pans or boxes, or broadcast in a frame ; 
they may then remain until planting time, when they 
may be planted out according to the convenience of 
the grower. (Gard. and Flor. i. 241.) 

For large quantities, it would not do to let them 
remain in the seed-pan : to do so, it must be small 
quantities, and sown very thin. A moderate heat 
should never be used, but always a very strong one, 
otherwise the most likely and promising seeds would 



44 



never make an appearance. The small seeds being 
from the finest blooms, they perish from the moisture 
if not sufficient heat to make them germinate at once. 

Those who do not possess facilities for potting their 
seedlings singly, should make a slight hotbed, as heat 
is required for the first few days only ; on which 
place a common cucumber-frame, with rich light soil 
over the manure to the depth of four or five inches, 
into which the young plants should be placed three 
to four inches from each other. In a few days the 
plants will allow of the lights being pulled back, 
should the weather be fine ; in fact, on all occasions, 
night or day, when this is the case, the great object 
being to keep them dwarf ; and a week before plant- 
ing out for blooming, let the frame be taken away as 
well. The young plants should be carefully drawn 
from the seed pans, beginning with the most forward, 
leaving the late ones for another day, between which 
a little fine soil should be shaken, and watered with a 
finfe rose before placing the pans again in the hotbed. 
Plants will continue to make their appearance, which 
would be lost if Mr. Glenny's plan was adopted, by 
giving air as soon as the first plants are large enough. 
If properly done, with moderate attention, stove 
plants can be produced from four to six inches in 
height. Such, of course, would bloom in excellent 
time. 

Cuttings taken from the stems growing in the open 



45 



air early in summer speedily take root, if planted 
under a hand-glass, with a moderate bottom-heat. 

This mode of propagation is the most important 
for the dahlia grower's attention. "We shall give full 
directions for the minutiae of the process when detail- 
ing the process as applicable to cuttings from forced 
shoots, and observing that plants obtained from cut- 
tings taken from the root in March are the best and 
most robust. 

Forced Propagation. — The usual, because most 
productive, mode of propagating the dahlia is by 
placing its tubers in a good bottom-heat early in the 
spring, and then planting in pots either the shoots 
they emit, or cuttings from these. 

The editor of " The Gardener and Florist" has 
observed, very correctly, that there are two or three 
rules which ought to be attended to in sending out 
plants thus raised. First, the grower to do any good 
with them should have them well rooted by the 20th 
of May. Secondly, they should be plants struck 
from original shoots of the tuber, and not tops or 
sides. Thirdly, they should be a week in a cold 
frame, merely saved from frost, before they are sent 
out. Nurserymen have a light to do what they like 
with their own, but all beyond this places the charac- 
ter of a flower in jeopardy. If a florist chooses to 
run this risk himself, well ; but if he lets out dry 
roots, he is at the mercy of every hungry propagator ; 



46 



and those who buy dry roots are likely to be more 
anxious than he who possesses a whole stock, because 
they know all their neighbours are at work at the 
same thing, and they endeavour to beat them in 
number : every extra plant, if only as big as a straw, 
is so much in their pockets ; and they watch every 
bud, every shoot, every leaf, ready to seize upon the 
most remote chance of an additional half-guinea. 
Thus the cultivators of the dahlia have hardly fair 
play, because they too often pay half-a-guinea for the 
privilege of farming a dry root for the next season, 
instead of being enabled to exhibit from a plant the 
year they buy it. Thus it is that many a flower 
which has really fair claims is often condemned and 
discarded the first season. (Gard. and Flor. iii. 58.) 

Very often, however, amateurs complain without a 
just cause. Their object in getting plants so early, 
often, is to take the tops off themselves, and thus to 
endeavour to grow two instead of one specimen of 
some favourite, and, consequently, with bad manage- 
ment, neither blooms in time, and the nurseryman is 
blamed for that with which he had nothing to do. 

Forced Shoots, — This, as we have just observed, is 
the most usual mode of propagation. The tubers, 
when full grown, would require an enormous pot, 
unless they were reduced by cutting. Some of the 
lobes, therefore, may be cut away altogether, others 
may be shortened, and particularly those which grow 



47 



outwards ; so that they can be got into the pot without 
any soil, it is sufficient. 

But many more roots can be placed in a small 
place without pots, on a tan-pit, or on the front plat- 
form of a house, by placing there mould four inches 
thick, on which putting the roots, and filling all the 
interstices between the tubers with rich soil. 

The crown where the tuber joins the stem should 
be above the surface of the soil, which should be 
three-fourths loam and one-fourth sand, and there 
being first a piece of thin crock, just large enough to 
cover the hole in the pot, placed over it. The tuber 
should be carefully potted, and the soil shook or 
poked between all the lobes of the tuber, that it 
may be solidly planted ; otherwise, if there be any 
part hollow under the tuber, and between the lobes, 
it will soon be a harbour for vermin. It is also ne- 
cessary to cut away from the tubers every part that 
is decayed, and any appearance of rot, as, unless cut 
away before potting, it will spread, and perhaps de- 
stroy the whole, before the shoots are long enough 
to take off. The pots should be placed in a hotbed, 
or in the stove, or, in the absence of these, in the 
warmest part of a greenhouse ; but if there be neither 
stove nor hotbed, it is far better to adopt the mode 
of parting the roots already treated ; nevertheless, 
we have propagated in a kitchen, or other warm 
room, and in a greenhouse. 



48 



When the shoots, or any of them, are two inches 
long, if you do not want a very large increase, you 
may break them carefully off by pushing them a 
little on one side, and then back again ; but in this 
operation the pressure must be given quite at the 
bottom, as well as a little way up ; by placing the 
broad part of the thumb against the side, and press- 
ing down on the crown, as well as against the shoot, 
it will be found to break out very easily, and strike 
as readilv, if not more readily, than if cut off. 




If this be done at the right age of the shoot, there 
is not the least difficulty about it, and other eyes will 
shoot round the place it was broken away from. 
These shoots should be potted, if you have room for 
them, in small sixty-sized pots, or thumb-pots, as 
they are called, which is the smallest regular pot that 
is made, one in a pot; but if, as is frequently the case 
with amateur growers, you are cramped for room, 
put five or six in a large-size sixty pot, round^ the 



49 



edges, and place the pots in the hotbed where the 
tubers are ; but it is far the better way to plant only 
one in a thumb-pot, from half an inch to an inch 
down, and close to the side, instead of in the middle, 
as the pot touching the plant assists the striking, 
though the shoots that are thus broken out will strike 
almost anywhere ; of course the operation is the 
same all through. You must go over the whole of the 
tubers daily, and take off all that are ready, taking 
especial care that the number or mark the tuber 
bears must be attached to all that comer off it, which 
is best done by wooden labels, neatly cut to adapt 
them to the small and next-sized pots ; two and a half 
inches long, half an inch broad, and the eighth of an 
inch thick, pointed, to go into the pot, are the best 
size, for they will do even for a time after the plant 
is out in the ground, as well as for all the time it is 
in the pot. Those shoots, which are put into the 
hotbed to strike, will root generally in a few days, 
and begin to grow. They must, however, be watched 
daily* and the glasses kept all over them, and air 
must be given by tilting the sashes at the back of 
the frame, with a stone or piece of wood : this must 
be done to let out the steam, even when air is not 
required, The most proper way to strike these cut- 
tings is, to prepare a hotbed on purpose, and that in 
which the tubers are should be kept for them only. 
However, it may happen that the grower has but one 

E 



50 



frame, and not tubers enough to fill it ; in such case 
the tubers may be struck in the same frame. In 
some cases there may be exceptions, but generally 
speaking there will be three or four shoots come round 
the place from which the first is taken, so that there 
will be a constant succession ; the number to take off 
daily will be increased, and the same process is to be 
continued to the whole, until the grower finds he has 
enough, when he may throw away the tubers, or part 
them into as many pieces as there are shoots or eyes 
remaining, giving a portion of the tuber to each shoot, 
and these portions of tubers may be cut shorter to 
adapt them to as small a pot as possible, but the base 
of the shoot must be planted under the surface, for a 
new tuber will be formed from the base of the shoot 
above the piece of old tuber, and the portion of the 
old one attached to the shoot will support it until the 
new one is sufficient to do so ; when planting-time 
comes, the operation is much the same in all cases, 
{Gardener and Florist, ii. 25.) 

Cuttings from forced shoots. — The above directions 
are chiefly from the pen of Mr. Glenny, and the same 
good floricultural authority gives the following equally 
correct information relative to raising plants from 
cuttings of the shoots so forced. The directions given 
are equally applicable to cuttings from shoots pro- 
duced in the open air during summer. The shoots 
are to be allowed to grow until they have three pair 



51 



of leaves, and then to be cut off just under the second 
pair and above the lowest pair. When one cutting 
is taken off, plenty of others follow, and these are to 
be served the same ; there must be care used that the 
cuttings taken off are from three to four inches long 
and that a pair of leaves are left below, for at every 
leaf there is an embryo bud which will form a shoot, 
which shoot will in turn yield a cutting and its two 
other embryo buds. The cuttings, when taken off, 
may be struck the same as shoots, but they do not 
take root so rapidly. It must depend on the room 
you have whether you will plant a dozen cuttings 
round a 48-sized pot, or put one cutting each into 
twelve small ones ; in one case but little room is taken 
np while they are striking, and this is often of import- 
ance. When they have struck root they must be 
potted singly into 60-sized pots, or thumb-pots, kept 
in heat a few days to establish them, and then replaced 
under some kind of protection till planting time. 
(Gard, arid Flor. ii. 25.) 

Mr. Fyffe, gardener at Milton Rectory, Bedford- 
shire, also recommends this mode of propagation. 
He says, from the newest sorts which have been pur- 
chased from the nursery (and which, in most cases, 
are cuttings), after they are established, or as soon as 
you can take a cutting without hurting the plant, take 
the small side shoots (the more stubbed the better), 
and pot them, as is commonly done with the shoots 
e 2 



52 



from the roots. These strike well when put in a good 
strong heat, and, by one or two shirtings, make nice 
little bulbs before autumn. These dry completely, 
and allow to remain in the pots during the winter ; 
placing them in a dry situation, not far distant from 
a Hue, so that they may haye the benefit of it in clamp 
weather, or when sharp frosts occur. The mould in 
the pots should be of a light sandy nature : a mixture 
of leaf-mould and sand, with yery little loam, is the 
safest compound to preserve them in. When the roots 
are started in the spring, they make excellent plants ; 
and, in most cases, four roots out of six so treated 
start, and thus secure the rarest sorts from being lost, 
as is often the case with cuttings the second season. 
(pard: Mag. iy. 429, X.S.) 

Mr. Hogg has some judicious directions for this 
mode of increasing the dahlia, obseiwing that nothing 
is more simple and easy. Place, he says, the roots 
in a hothouse, about the first of March, (many begin 
in February,) when they readily break, and throw out 
young shoots, for cuttings, which ought to be taken 
off when three inches long, and planted in 4S pots, 
three or four in a pot, or one in a 60, and which may 
remain in the same place till they take root. 

Those who haye not this convenience, including 
most of the private growers, must provide some 
stable-dung and litter, about the beginning or middle 
of February, and prepare a hotbed, on which a cu- 



53 



cumber frame and lights may be placed, to receive the 
tubers ; the bed must be covered with six inches of 
mould, to temper the heat, and keep the steam under. 
If the tubers have been kept in dry mould in pots, 
through the winter, either in a greenhouse or cellar, 
they may remain in those pots, if the crowns of the 
tubers are not buried, and the pots may be plunged 
in the earth of the hotbed. If the roots are out of 
pots, let them be covered with mould, except the 
crown. The heat will have declined in about three 
weeks, without fresh lining, when the cuttings will be 
ready ; so that it will be necessary to have another 
gentle hotbed to receive them when potted, or else 
fresh lining must be added to the first one. Let the 
mould you make use of be sifted fine, and mix with a 
little leaf-mould, old rotten frame-dung, and fine 
sand. When the cuttings are planted, water them 
sparingly for the first week or two, till the wounds be 
healed over ; shade them from the sun, and cover at 
night with mats, in case of frost. If any hot steam 
should by chance rise, raise the lights a little, with a 
flat bit of tile or oyster shell, to let it escape, to pre- 
vent their fogging. After the cuttings are rooted, 
harden them to the air gradually, and pot them 
singly, in 60 pots ; as they increase in strength, pot 
them again in 48 pots, in which they may remain till 
turned into the ground any time in May or June ; 
or they may be moved again into larger pots to flower, 



54 



as such will form small compact tubers well adapted 
for package and carriage. These young plants are 
preferred to the old roots ; and when trained up with 
single stems, form a fine head, and flower, upon the 
whole, better. If the ground they are planted in is 
of rather a free open texture, and dries quickly after 
rain, it is necessary to put three or four inches of 
manure, of any kind, on the surface, in form of a 
circle round the plants, to nourish the roots, to con- 
fine the moisture, and prevent evaporation ; the 
stems and branches being of a brittle and succulent 
nature, should be well secured with stakes, to pre- 
vent their being broken by the wind. (Hogg's Ajpp. 
194.) 

By Eyes— This is the mode whereby most plants 
of any variety may be obtained within the shortest 
space of time, though it is seldom practiced, and we 
do not recommend it. In this we differ, perhaps, 
from Mr. Glenny, who observes that in this mode 
there may be half a dozen or more plants made out 
of one shoot or cutting taken off properly. Suppose 
there be three pairs of leaves besides the end joint ; 
the end joint, which will have two leaves, and the heart, 
may be cut off close to the under leaves, which may be 
carefully removed, and this forms a cutting ; the stem 
left is to be split up, each half having its two or 
three leaves. These are to be cut close under each 
leaf ; half the portion of split stem, and the whole of 



55 



the leaf will remain, and these must be put an inch 
deep into the soil, each 4S-sized pot holding six sets 
planted against the sides. The bud at the base of 
each leaf will make a plant if placed in a hotbed, 
and when they have become well rooted they must be 
placed in separate pots, and kept growing in heat 
until they are six or eight inches high, when they 
may be taken to a cooler frame. (Gard. and Flor. 
ii. 25.) 

Grafting. — Plants thus established are not so long- 
lived as those sustained by their own roots, but it 
may be adopted advantageously to avoid the chance 
of losing a seedling, or any scarce variety, and is par- 
ticularly applicable to those kinds which are horny- 
rooted and difficult to break, or such as Taylor's Sul- 
tana, with long stringy tubers, which seldom live 
through the winter, and to others which break late : 
to all such this mode is recommended with the great- 



56 



est confidence of success. The operation is exceed- 
ingly simple (see figure), and may be performed at 
any time from January to December (provided you 
have a good growing heat), not only with young 
green shoots, but with others more advanced, if not 
hollow or pithy. The usual manner is to take a 
scion with six or eight leaves, cut it smooth below the 
joint, take off one of the lower leaves without injuring 
the eye, and then cut away a portion (half or three- 
quarters of an inch) of the skin or fleshy part of the 
wood between each of the lower eyes. Have ready a 
good sound piece of tuber of the last or present sea- 
son (if ripe), in which make a slanting longitudinal 
incision of one or two inches, according to circum- 
stances, and about half an inch wide at the top, gra- 
dually tapering off to the bottom, and fix the scion 
firmly into it. The root should then be planted in a 
pot, with the grafted part just below the mould, and 
placed under a bell-glass, or in a warm close frame, 
but the former is best. In eight or ten days the 
union will be complete, and air may be gradually 
given ; after a short time you will be able to head it 
down either for cuttings, if in spring, or grafts for 
summer and autumn. It is advisable to leave at all 
times four eyes, to ensure a vigorous growth, and 
also to shift the plant into a larger pot occasionally. 
The only difficulty will be in the months of November 
and December, when the plants are liable to damp 



57 



off, because it is necessary to keep them in a green 
state, and just growing, but nothing more. At the 
end of January, or whenever you commence propaga- 
tion, they can be removed to the hotbed or stove ; 
and experience has taught that, with care and atten- 
tion, they will produce a multitude of cuttings, earlier 
than can be obtained from ground roots. Many of 
the Paris florists cultivate them very extensively after 
this manner for the markets of Pere la Chaise and 
Montartre. (Gard. Chron. 1842, 621.) 

Mr. Blake, who, from France, first introduced this 
mode of propagation, directs the scion to be placed 
on, instead of in, the tuber. He says that the cut- 
ting intended to be the scion should be robust, short- 
jointed, and having two or more joints or buds ; it 
must also be procured as early in the season as possi- 
ble. For the stock, select a good tuber of a single 
variety, taking especial care that it has no buds or 
eyes, cut off a slice from its upper end, using a very 
sharp knife, making at the bottom of the part so cut 
a ledge whereon to rest the scion. This is desirable, 
because you cannot tongue the scion as you would a 
woody shoot ; and the ledge is useful for keeping the 
scion in its place whilst it is being tied. Cut the 
scion sloping to fit the cut on the tuber, and cut it so 
that a joint may be at its bottom resting on the afore- 
said ledge. A union may be effected without the 
ledge, provided the scion can be well fixed to the 



58 



tuber, but the junction will not, in such case, be so 
neat. The advantage of having a joint at the end of 
the scion is, that roots are occasionally put from that 
lower joint. The stem is formed from the upper 
joint. After the scion has been tied to the tuber with 
a piece of bast, the whole must be covered over with 
common grafting clay, and planted in a pot of fine 
light loam, so deep as to bury half the scion. Place 
the pot in a gentle heat, such as the front of a cucum- 
ber frame ; the front affording greater facilities for 
giving the necessary shading and watering. In three 
weeks the root may be shifted into a larger pot, if it 
is too early to move it at once into the border, which 
will probably be the case ; for, supposing the grafting 
done in March, the plant cannot go out until the end 
of May. {Hort. Soc. Trans, iv. 476.) 

For stocks, Mr. Nash recommends dry roots of 
inferior varieties hept in a dormant state, and the 
scions to be inserted in a mode differing from either 
of the preceding. Cut a slit in the tuber two inches 
long, commencing at the top, and cutting downwards. 
Shape the lower end of the scion into a wedge form, 
and insert it in the incision made in the tuber. It 
may then be treated exactly as recommended by Mr. 
Blake. (Gard. Mag. vii. 38.) 

Parting the Roots. — This mode is best for private 
gardens, where, comparatively, only a few plants are 
required ; and the first object is to obtain speedily 



59 



strongly-blooming plants. Writing upon this mode, 
G. A. Lake, Esq., F.L.S., of Tulse Hill House, gives 
us the following judicious observations and directions. 
From cuttings emitted by a single root, under proper 
treatment, several dozens of young plants may be 
raised in a short space of time. Consequently, this 
method is universally adopted by nurserymen ; they 
annually requiring a large stock of young plants for 
sale ; and by individuals anxious to propagate exten- 
sively a new variety. But it ought not to be practised 
by amateurs or others, anxious to obtain fine perfect 
flowers for exhibition or otherwise, for plants raised 
from cuttings do not produce equally perfect flowers, 
in regard to size, form, and fulness, with those pro- 
duced by plants grown from division of the tubers, the 
old method of propagating the dahlia. It has been 
said that plants raised from cuttings, flower more 
abundantly than those raised by division ; but to this 
we are not prepared to subscribe. 

Physiological botany readily accounts for the dif- 
ferent results of the two methods. The starch, or 
feculent matter, stored in the roots, is intended by 
nature for the nutrition of the animal shoots ; not 
only until the tubers have formed, at the commence- 
ment of the vegetating season, the spongioles neces- 
sary for the absorption of the required quantity of 
pabula ; but also when the spongioles are unable, 
from drought, or any other causes, to absorb a suf- 



60 



ficiency of nutritient matter, to sustain the rapidity 
developing and vigorous vegetation. 

Plants propagated by cuttings, cannot, of course, 
absorb the nutriment prepared and stored, during the 
last season, in the tubers of the mother root ; and are 
forced to form spongioles and tubers for themselves. 
But the fecula contained in these latter is not, till 
towards the end of the year, sufficient in quantity, or 
sufficiently ripened by the deposition of carbon, to 
be, perhaps, in any way serviceable. Therefore, in 
order to secure a good and satisfactory bloom, let the 
roots be laid, in March, in a damp warm place, such 
as a forcing-house, gentle hotbed, or even a cellar ; 
and, when the buds shew themselves, let each root be 
divided into as many pieces as may be required, re- 
taining a bud to each piece ; and let them be then 
planted separately in 48-sized pots. The after-treat- 
ment is the same as for plants raised from cuttings. 
(Gard. Mag. iv. 178, N.S.) 

Upon this mode of propagation, Mr. Glenny re- 
marks, that the tuber of the dahlia has rarely any 
bud or eye, except where it joins the stem of the last 
year's plant, the part called the crown ; and it will be 
frequently found that the tuber is very small at that 
end. It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that 
in taking these up, and preserving them for the win- 
ter, they should not be broken, twisted, nor bruised 
at the end which joins the crown ; and if they are 



61 



broken, or bruised, or twisted, so as to hang loose, 
they may as well be taken off at once, for the crown 
derives no benefit from any that hang loose. These 
removed, it is often found that the strong ones which 
are left are too long to pot conveniently ; but they 
may be shortened without absolute injury, though, as 
the shortening cannot be of any service beyond the 
convenience of potting, it should not be done wan- 
tonly. In April, let the roots be put in a warm place. 
Say, for instance, that the cultivator has no frame, or 
hotbed, or greenhouse, they may be put in a basket 
or box, in a warm cupboard in the kitchen. If he 
have a greenhouse, they may be put in the warmest 
part of that ; or, if he have a garden-frame and glass, 
let it be converted to a hotbed with a few barrows of 
hot stable-dung, and two or three inches of soil on it, 
and the roots be all thrown in there, and be covered 
up with the glass. If the kitchen or greenhouse be 
all the convenience possessed, the roots must be 
brought there early in March. If, on the contrary, 
there be a hotbed, or the grower has a hothouse, the 
end of the month will do. The eyes will soon be de- 
veloped, and begin to shoot : when these are com- 
pletely shewn, the root may be cut into pieces, care 
being taken that there is a lobe or portion of the 
tuber to each eye or shoot. In this, the root is sup- 
posed to have an eye to each lobe, but it will not al- 
ways prove so. "With a strong and sharp knife, they 



62 



must be so nicely separated, by a careful division of the 
crown, as to preserve a portion of tuber to each eye or 
shoot : these portions of the tuber may be shortened so 
as to go into a 60 or 48-sized pot, and the tuber must 
be sunk into the pot low enough to cover the part from 
whence the eye shoots. Thus potted, they may be re- 
turned to the place they came from, whether it be hot- 
house, frame, greenhouse, or kitchen, as near the 
light as possible ; those in the hotbed or hothouse, 
to grow until the beginning of May, and then be 
removed to a cool frame or greenhouse, or room in 
the dwelling, to get hardened a little before planting 
out in the ground at the end of the month. Those 
which, for want of better accommodation, make their 
growth in a greenhouse or dwelling-house, may re- 
main there, without change, till planting time. But 
where the quantity is too great to pot off at all before 
planting, the roots had better be parted as before 
directed, and then be planted out at once where they 
are to bloom : in this case it is not necessary to cut 
away any part of the lobe to shorten it as if for pot- 
ting, but to plant in holes, with the crown three or 
four inches below the surface, about the middle of 
April ; the shoot will then not make its appearance 
above ground till the middle of May, when it will 
escape the frost. If, however, any should come up 
early in May, they must be covered with earth to 
protect them. These will be quite early enough to 



63 



bloom from July till the frost cuts them off. If any 
come up with two or more shoots, which they will if 
there be more than one eye to the tuber, all but one 
should be cut off. The treatment when planted out 
being the same in all cases. (Gard. and Florist, ii. 
25.) 

To promote this mode of propagation, Mr. Paxton 
recommends the old entire roots to be placed in a 
warm situation (a south border- is best) and covered, 
except the crowns, with old bark or light soil ; observ- 
ing to shelter them from frost, and other injuries to 
which they are liable. When the buds have broken, 
and are an inch or two in length, the roots may be 
divided into as many parts as may be desired, taking 
care that each division has one or more promising 
buds. 

By Autumn Cuttings. — This is a mode of propaga- 
tion sometimes adopted, but it is open to many objec- 
tions, and should not be practised except when it is 
very desirable to increase the numbers of some very 
rare and valuable variety. The cuttings are taken off 
as directed in the case of spring cuttings, are pre- 
served in foliage through the winter, and are ready 
for planting out at the end of May. 



64 



SITUATION, SOIL AND MANURES. 

Situation. — No flower is more impatient of the 
overshadowing of trees, or of a confined atmosphere, 
than is the dahlia. It is a native of unshaded plains, 
and cannot endure being deprived of sunshine, and a 
free but not boisterous circulation of air. 

Mr. Wildman, therefore, does not speak too 
strongly when he says that, without a free and pure 
atmosphere, all our labours would be lost ; for a 
dahlia, of all flowers, required a strong air ; — and it 
was in this respect that the metropolitan florists 
could never compete with their country rivals. In 
fact, so great was the difference, that many flowers, 
which with the one are most desirable, are with the 
other, if not worthless, absolutely useless. 

Hard-eyed flowers would never do in London, nor 
those that were thin and soft in the country : the 
first requires a strong air and free growth, which the 
latter cannot bear ; as instances, he mentioned Gre- 
gory's Kegina, as a useful London flower, but worth 
nothing in the country. Cox's Defiance, though hi- 
therto a favourite in the country, could seldom or ever 
be exhibited by a London grower. Lady Cooper, 
again, often beautiful in the country, was useless 
here, the back petals falling ere the others were 



65 



blown. The same with Hudson's Princess Royal. 
Widnall's Queen, again, was excellent in the one place, 
— notwithstanding the angularity of petals, which it 
then in a great degree loses, — has the same defect. 
Hope was a flower that does well in both places ; so 
also were Unique, Maria, and Catleugh's Eclipse 
(though uncertain.) Dodd's Prince of Wales, again, 
is easily bloomed in the neighbourhood of the metro- 
polis, but it is always deep and. abruptly sunk in the 
centre. (Gard. Chron. 1843, 87.) 

Although the dahlia delights in a free air, yet, also, 
shelter from high winds is essentially necessary ; and, 
where masses of them are to be planted together, the 
tallest growers must be planted farthest from the eye, 
and so as not to overtop the dwarf sorts. M. Fintel- 
man considers the dahlia as a particularly desirable 
plant for a new garden or shubbery ; ' 1 because,' 5 says 
he, " it will grow in a rich, moist soil, to the height 
of 6 ft. in two months, and yearly, afterwards, to the 
same height in the same soils, provided moisture and 
manure be abundantly supplied." We notice this as 
being somewhat at variance with the experience of 
Mr. Smith, of the Horticultural Society's garden, 
who states, " that if it is desirable to have dahlias 
always in one situation, it is necessary to renew the 
soil, by trenching it deeply the second, and taking it 
out and replacing it the third and succeeding years," 
He subjoins, "it will seldom be found advisable to 

F 



66 



add manure, fresh soil is all that is necessary " We 
may observe, in confirmation of M. Fintelman's ex- 
perience, that dahlias have been grown in the flower- 
garden at Hylands, on the same soil, without trench- 
ing, manure, or fresh soil, for many years ; and every 
year they have attained, though not to the height of 
16 ft., yet to as great perfection as the dahlias of the 
Horticultural Society's garden, or as dahlias do attain 
in this country. (Pruss. Sort. Trans, i.) 

Walls facing the south and the east afford excellent 
protections to dahlias, therefore they may be used as 
screens for concealing such walls and other fences or 
unsightly objects, presenting, as they do, at the same 
time, a beautiful spectacle to the eye by the variety 
of their colours, from snowy white to the darkest 
violet, purple blood-red and blackish blood-red, sul- 
phur colour, orange, and scarlet, in all their shades, 
especially if we can contrive to group the colours in 
masses. 

Although an open situation is essential for the pro- 
duction of the most perfect dahlias, yet very good 
flowers of this genus may be grown in the borders of 
shrubberies, and other confined parts of the pleasure- 
ground. In such situations, however, it is advisable 
that only the common and inferior sorts should be 
thus grown. 

An excellent situation for planting first-class dahlias, 
and well-calculated to exhibit their flowers to the 



67 



greatest advantage, is an open border, raised at the back 
and sloping gradually down to the walk in front. By 
this position the flowers are presented to the eye in a 
combined broad mass. In these sloping borders the 
tallest varieties should be planted in the rear, and 
those of dwarfer habit in the front. (Pax ton on the 
Dahlia, 40.) 

When raised borders of this description lie parallel 
on each side of the walk, or have their margins taste- 
fully broken into irregular recesses, of from twelve to 
three feet in depth, as well as the surface slightly un- 
dulated, the beauty and grandeur of these masses, 
when in flower, defy all attempts at description. Mr. 
Pax ton adds, that not a richer, more brilliant, or 
more varied display of flowers could be produced 
from the combined beauty of any other family of plants 
in the whole field of vegetation. 

Soil. — The best of all soils for this, and, we believe, 
for all other tuberous-rooted plants, is a light, fresh 
loam, unexhausted by being lately cropped, but with- 
out the addition of either fresh animal or vegetable 
manures. 

At the same time, we may observe, that the moister 
light part of the garden is to be preferred for those 
dahlias which are liable to have green hard centres, 
as the Marquis of Aylesbury, Hudson's Princess 
Royal, &c, and where water can he obtained for them 
conveniently. Abundance of moisture and rapid 
f 2 



68 



growth causes them to produce more perfect centres. 
Flowers that usually come thin after their first blos- 
soms, as Lady St. Maur, and Beauty of Sussex, 
should be planted in the most open situation and in a 
heavier soil than that best suited to the others. 

Mr. Glenny says, that the dahlia grows and blooms 
to perfection in the soil of a newly turned up meadow, 
and, generally speaking, nourishes wherever the 
ground yields a good turnip or cabbage. The space 
intended to be planted should be trenched, dressed, 
and thrown up in ridges, from the time the plants are 
removed in autumn until it is time to replant them 
in spring. If the soil be light, it is necessary to 
dress it with good, rich, loam and dung — such as the 
top spit of a meadow, and the decomposed dung from 
old hotbeds. If there is any difficulty in dressing the 
whole of the ground, dig out holes, eighteen inches 
deep, and three feet diameter, and mix the stuff with 
the dressing as you return it to the hole. If the soil 
be on a bed of gravel, it will be absolutely necessary 
to remove it, at least to the depth above mentioned, 
and to make good the hole with all soil ; if you cannot, 
with all soil and dressing, for the gravel so near the 
root would be fatal. (Gard. and Flor, i. 21.) 

If the preparation of an artificial soil be necessary, 
the following, employed by the King of Prussia's gar- 
dener, M. Fintelman, is as good as any : — One part of 
the natural sandy soil from his garden, one part of 



69 



soft clay, containing 10 per cent, of marl, and one 
part of rotten wood earth from the carpenter's yard. 
In this mixture, both young and old plants grow vigor- 
ously. Holes, in the situations where dahlias are to 
be planted, are made 15 in. in diameter and 15 in. in 
depth, and filled with this soil ; and in these holes, 
so filled, the young plants are turned out, or the old 
roots inserted. To retain the moisture, and protect 
the root from excessive heat, the surface is covered 
with moss. Liquid manure is applied two or three 
times in the course of the summer. (Prussian Hort. 
Trans, i.) 

Manures. — We do not agree in opinion with those 
who think it necessary to grow dahlias annually on 
fresh soil. On the contrary, we have grown them for 
ten or twelve years on the same border with undimi- 
nished beauty. All that is necessary is to dress the 
soil with a little fresh earth, mixed with decaying ve- 
getable matters, such as old leaves, or the bottom of 
an old wood stack. 

At the the Slough Nursery, so celebrated for fine 
dahlias, they have been grown in the same situation 
for nearly twenty years, with a little fresh soil added 
occasionally. The same quarter is under dahlias at 
the present time, which are growing with undiminished 
vigour. 

Peat is also an excellent article to mix in the soil 
when the loam is heavy and close, if it can be pro- 



70 



cured easily. Let it be distributed all over the piece 
or border ; if otherwise, mix it in the soil immedi- 
ately where the plant is to be deposited. 

Let it always be kept in mind that it is a very fatal 
error to imagine that the flowers of the dahlia will be 
improved or rendered larger by planting in a rich or 
highly nutritive soil ; for, instead of this desired effect 
being thus secured, the plants will be induced to pro- 
duce super-luxuriant shoots and leaves, whilst the 
flowers either will be reduced both in size and num- 
ber, or they will be rendered coarse and deficient in 
beauty of form. 

Where the ground is very poor, and has to be 
made, as it were, there is no addition equal to the soil 
formed by rotten turfs, cut tolerably thick, which may 
be estimated at one half loam and half vegetable 
mould ; but this should be laid on in abundance, and 
will be far better than dung of any kind. Among 
the results of planting the dahlia in soil that is too 
rich, the principal one is that of remarkably vigorous 
growth, with little bloom, and that little bad. (Gard, 
and Flor. ii. 23.) 

Nitrate of soda has been employed with very great 
improvement to the flowers when, either from the soil 
being poor, or other cause, the dahlias have appeared 
weakly. This result of private practice is confirmed 
by the following results of experiments instituted in 
the Chiswick Gardens : — 



71 



Dahlias were tried with nitrate of soda, each plant 
having about half an ounce given to it, mixed with 
water. The plants operated upon became of a fine 
dark green, more robust and compact in their growth ; 
flowering rather more freely, and earlier than others 
which had no nitrate ; it had no effect on the colour 
of the flowers. A few of these dahlias were, about 
three weeks after, again supplied with an additional 
ounce, mixed with water as before, but without any 
additional effect being perceptible ; nor was any fur- 
ther result obtained when some of the same plants 
had a third half-ounce administered to them about a 
month after. (Proc. Hort. Soc. 1843, No. 1/.) 



OPEN-GROUND CULTURE. 

The chief points for consideration in this section of 
our subject are the planting — staking — pruning — 
watering — and protection of the plants. 

Planting. — The last fortnight of May is the best 
time for planting out dahlias in the open border, if 
the season be genial ; otherwise, the first or even se- 
cond week of June is as good a time. 

Sink a hole with the spade or trowel at each place 
where intended, five or six feet apart each way, and 



72 



so deep as to place the ball of earth, if growing in 
pots, or the crown of the tubers, not more than four 
inches below the surface. Saturate the soil with 
water all around the tubers, and make a cup or basin 
on the surface, that they may be the more readily 
watered, the first few days, until they are established. 
In about ten days or a fortnight fork all round the 
plant, earthing up the stems, and sinking a circle al 
round, at 18 inches distance, making the plant stand, 
as it were, in a three-feet-in-diameter basin. If the 
stems are tall enough to bear it, tie them at once to 
the stakes to protect them, and put the flower-pot, 
from which each ball is taken, on the top of the 
stake ; or if you hare them, put the pots on the short 
sticks, that earwigs and other vermin may easily get 
into them. (Gard. and Flor. ii. 28.) 

To forward the plants to such stage of growth, 
those who possess a hothouse should put each plant 
into a pot of 6 or 8 inches in diameter, with some 
good rich mould, so as the crown may just appear at 
the top of the pot ; then place them in the green- 
house, where they will soon make good plants ; and 
then, at the end of May, or early in June, as before 
directed, when all danger from frost is over, they 
may be turned out into holes prepared for them. In 
this manner, after being so long confined, they will 
grow most luxuriantly. A common cucumber frame 
may be successfully used, if a hot-house is not at 



73 



command, to advance them in this way. (Gard. 
Mag. v. 142.) 

For some time after planting out in the border, if 
the weather proves dry, it will be necessary to give a 
little water to the plants every evening, and, after 
doing so, to protect them from the night reduction of 
temperature by turning a garden-pot over each. Re- 
move these pots early in the morning, if the weather 
is genial. During the day, if the sun is sufficiently 
powerful to cause the leaves of the plants to droop, 
they may be relieved by shading them with branches 
of laurel or other evergreens stuck into the soil be- 
tween them and the sun. 

Arrangement. — A light coloured flower should be 
between two dark coloured flowers, and the latter 
should preponderate in number. Mr. Sabine correctly 
observed, also, they look best, in a large mass, un- 
mixed with other plants ; in this plan of growing 
them, some nicety is required in the due distribution 
of the sorts, so as to have a proper and good mixture 
of colours, and particular care is necessary to keep 
the tallest plants either in the centre, or at the back 
of the clump, according as it is destined to be viewed 
from one side only, or on every point, and to place 
the whole so that there shall be no unevenness in the 
general shape of the entire mass, arising from the 
irregular arrangement of the individual plants, ac- 
cording to their respective heights. The roots should 



74 



be planted about three feet from each other every 
way ; this distance will keep each sufficiently distinct, 
and yet so united, that the whole clump will have the 
appearance of an unbroken wood or forest of dahlias. 
They look very handsome, if planted in the manner 
of an avenue, in a straight line on each side of a walk. 
The earliest flowers will appear in June. {Hort. Soc. 
Trans, iii. 242.) 

Mr. Smith, of the Chiswick Gardens, gives the 
following particulars of an attempt to give the tall- 
growing kinds a dwarf appearance. After agreeing 
with the above observations as to the best arrange- 
ment of the flowers, he says, the dwarf appearance 
was effected by pegging down all the young shoots as 
fast as they grew, until the ground was nearly co- 
vered. The shoots were then suffered to grow upright, 
and the whole became one mass. They flowered ex- 
tremely well, but rather late in the season, and never 
had the appearance of being higher than two or 
three feet and a half. The sorts selected for this ex- 
periment were those that flower most abundantly. 
Large-rooted plants, which produce many stems, are 
best suited for this purpose, because such sooner fill 
up the intervening spaces. The dwarf kinds ought 
always to be planted either by themselves, or in front 
of the taller ones. When planted in clumps, the 
effect produced by them is very brilliant. (Hort, 
Soc. Trans, vii. 161.) 



75 



This department of dahlia culture is too much ne- 
glected by gardeners, who may fill their largest beds 
with little trouble : all they have to do is to avoid 
flowers with weak footstalks, and to select those cha- 
racterized by strength of footstalk ; such as Perpetual 
Grand, Cleopatra, Essex Triumph, Cassandra, &c. 

Staking. — When the plants are much exposed, or, 
indeed, wherever grown, they require to be supported 
by strong stakes ; these should be put in at the time 
of planting, or shortly afterwards ; for, if this work be 
done later, the roots will be injured by the stakes in 
driving them down ; this hurts the plants when ad- 
vanced materially, sometimes even killing them. 
(Hort. Soc. Trans, vii. 162.) 

They require to be thus supported to keep them 
from being broken down, not only by high winds, but 
by the mere weight of their own flowers and foliage 
during heavy rains. The best fastening for them is 
the green cord used for window blinds. 

Stake them with one large stake, to be permanent, 
and secure the plant sufficiently loose to allow the 
stem to swell. Add two small stakes at right-angles, 
to which the plant must also be secured ; this will 
keep it in a firm position during the worst weather. 
Add large stakes as the plant advances, and keep the 
side-branches secured. In this particular, there is 
generally some neglect ; by deferring the tying until 
it can be done all at once, an unexpected high wind 



76 



may strip the plant of half its branches. Do not tie 
the branches to the stakes in a bunch, but train them 
out separately, so that the leaves may be well exposed 
to the light and air. This is essential for the pro- 
duction of fine blooms. {Turner s Practical Obser- 
vations on the Dahlia, 2.) 

Sometimes the dahlia is trained in an espalier form, 
which can only be done by arranging the shoots 
whilst they are very young. They are trained ac- 
cording to the fan system, the main stems being led 
out diagonally, and the centre filled by the branches 
trained horizontally. There should be horizontal 
bars to form the trellis, as well as upright stakes. 

The frequent use of the hoe, not only to destroy 
weeds, but to loosen the soil's surface, is very bene- 
ficial. 

Pruning requires to be done very sparingly, and, 
indeed, is seldom required, unless it is desired to have 
only a few very fine and perfect flowers. It should 
be done as soon as the shoots show themselves ; and 
the lower ones alone should be removed. It is not a 
good practice to take away the leader. (Gard. 
Chron. 1843, 361.) 

Do not allow the plant to become full of small 
branches, and then removed at once ; all superfluous 
shoots should be cut away as the plant progresses. 
It is also injudicious to subject each variety to the same 
amount of thinning ; for, by such treatment, as much 



injury will be done to some kinds, as good to others. 
Those that are generally too large and coarse must 
be spared ; when such varieties as require size only 
should be thinned considerably. No precise rule 
can be laid down ; and nothing but close observa- 
tion in this important particular will enable the ope- 
rator to practice it successfully. 

Nearly the same rules apply to disbudding. Those 
requiring to be reduced in size must be left until a 
later period of their growth, which will bring the 
flowers more compact, with smaller petals, and better 
general form. 

"We know that we are in opposition to the opinions of 
some, in thus recommending very slight dahlia pruning, 
for it is a common notion that, the more you cut away 
of a dahlia, the more you invigorate the remainder. 
Nothing can be more erroneous, says Mr. Glenny, than 
the adoption of such extreme measures. The only 
pruning a dahlia should have, is the shortening of 
those branches which impede other branches, and the 
removal of superfluous flower buds. It is desirable 
to prune shoots and leaves which are likely to touch 
a flower, for the friction of a leaf is quite enough to 
destroy a bloom ; but, beyond the convenience, the 
shapeliness, and free growth, of all the parts of the 
plant which require the occasional removal of shoots, 
nothing more should be done to strengthen any par- 
ticular bloom than the stopping of any shoot that is 



78 



above it, and the removal of some or all of the other 
flower buds on the branch. (Gard. and Flor. ii.) 

The plants should be well looked to the first month 
after planting out ; whatever shoots appear below, 
where the plant is observed to be swelling to the 
greatest size, should be removed when in a young 
state. 

Judicious pruning and thinning will keep up a fine 
head of bloom until the frost arrives, let them be as 
early as they may ; but if there is much to cut away 
at any one time, nothing can be more certain than 
that the plants have been neglected. 

Watering, — In common with other garden plants, 
rain or pond water is the best for the dahlia ; and 
when once established, it does not require watering 
more than once a week, even in very dry weather. 

Mr. Glenny is of the same opinion on this point of 
its culture. He says, after a plant is established, 
water should be given but seldom, and when given let 
it be as good a soaking of the earth as it would have 
in three hours' rain ; but if this cannot be done, they 
should be watered all round the plant for eighteen 
inches, and not on or close to the plant, for water ad- 
ministered close to the stem is baked up by the heat 
of the surrounding soil, and does not reach the fibres 
at the extremities ; such watering, ten times a day, 
would not be so effective as a good soaking of the 
ground once a week : the former checks the progress 



79 



of the root, while the latter encourages it. (Gard. 
and Flor. i. 22.) 

If, on turning up the earth, it is found moist within 
two, three, or four inches down, it is better to wait 
a short time for the chance of rain, than to tamper 
with the plants by applications of water at the root 
only. (Gard. and Flor. hi. 66.) 

Use soft water, if possible. If it is not naturally 
so, pump it, in the morning, into tubs or tanks, leav- 
ing it to the action of the sun and air ; to be used in 
the evening. When the plants have become large, it 
will be necessary to give them considerable quantities 
at a time, instead of frequent waterings ; but this, of 
course, will depend upon the state of the weather, 
soil, &c. On no account neglect giving them a slight 
sprinkling overhead, through a fine rose or syringe, 
in dry weather, after the sun has left them ; as the 
dew following this operation, will keep the plants in 
a wet state until the following morning, which will be 
a preventive of the thrip, and keep the earwigs from 
eating the points of the young shoots, which they 
often do before any blooms appear. The colour and 
size of the foliage will also soon show the beneficial 
effects of this practice. (Turner on the Dahlia, 5.) 

To preserve the moisture in the soil, and to avoid 
the necessity for watering, some persons mulch their 
dahlias. There are objections to this, although, with 
care, it is very effective. First, the litter harbours 



so 



vermin, and particularly the earwigs and slugs ; se- 
condly, as the litter keeps the earth moist upon the 
surface, the roots come actually through the soil, and 
may be seen at the top on removing the mulching ; 
and then, if from neglect the surface becomes dry, the 
plants receive such a check as to take a considerable 
time to recover, if they ever entirely do so. Not- 
withstanding these objections, we recommend mulch- 
ing, for there is no fear of earwigs harbouring in the 
manure used for mulching, if it is kept properly 
moist ; and as for slugs, there should be none, for 
cleanliness will always keep them down. 

Tying-up, when the plants are of full stature, re- 
quires particular attention : in August, especially, the 
blooming plants must frequently be looked to, in 
order to provide any supports that may be required. 
The greatest care must be observed that the ties are 
attached firmly to the stem. Dahlias grow fast, and 
the ties being hid by the foliage, are particularly apt 
to suffer from oversight on this point. But the 
greatest injury is to be apprehended from slugs or 
snails, particularly the black snail (Limax ater), which 
inhabits shady places. A sure preventative to its 
depredation is a circle of common coal-tar poured 
round the stem of each plant ; let a small ridge of 
earth be made within this circle, so that water or 
liquid manure may be applied when necessary. 
(Gard.Journ. 1845, 488.) 



81 



Shelter, both from wind and sun, is essential for 
the lengthened continuance in beauty of the dahlia 
blooms when expanded. Mr. Glenny observes, wind 
and sun are both detrimental ; and the practice of 
fixing the blooms in the centre of a fiat board, and 
covering them with glass or flower-pots, as they may 
want light or shade, is becoming general. The more 
easy way is to use a paper shade for any particular 
fine blooms ; for, however the flowers may be coaxed 
and nursed under cover, a stand of blooms grown 
finely, and merely shaded from the hottest sun, will 
beat all others in brilliancy, and in standing carriage, 
and keeping. It is right to go round the plants, 
and wherever there is a promising bud or bloom, 
take away all the leaves and shoots that threaten to 
touch it as they grow ; take off also the adjoining 
buds, and, if the weather be windy, make it fast to a 
stick or one of the stakes, that it may not be bruised or 
frayed ; shade it from intense sunshine, and it will so 
profit by the air and night dews, as compared with 
the blooms under pots and glasses, that, if the growth 
be equal, the blooming will be superior. Neverthe- 
less, people will cover ; and where there is a disposi- 
tion to a hard eye, this will hardly come out perfect 
unless it is covered. As the end of September ap- 
proaches, or as soon as you have done with the 
bloom, earth up the plants, that when the frost comes 
it may not reach the crown. 

G 



82 



Although shading moderately and judiciously is 
very essential to enable the flower to attain and to 
prolong its most perfect beauty, yet the amateur 
often practises it most mistakingly. By being too 
anxious he gives himself extra trouble, and at the 
same time spoils the blooms he so much wishes to 
preserve, by shading them too long before they are 
wanted ; shading out of character many of the light 
flowers, and making all tender, and less able to bear 
a journey, or exposure when put up for competition. 
It is requisite to shade some light flowers, and some 
of the yellows, earlier than others, in order to produce 
them clear and distinct : when, on the other hand, 
those with slight tips, or marking, must be deferred ; 
otherwise, the face of the bloom would be without its 
characteristic feature, and wear an indistinct blush, 
instead of the attractive tip or edge. 

The time required for shading before a given day 
when the blooms are wanted, must, in a great mea- 
sure, depend on the weather. Four or five days will 
be sufficient for an early show, but, as the season 
advances, extend the time ; and secure the buds or 
young blooms likely to be good, from friction against 
the neighbouring blooms and foliage, by tying them 
to stakes, or parts of the plant. (Turner on the 
Dahlia } 4.) 

The basket-shade, of which the accompanying 
sketch is a representation, effects all that is necessary 



83 



— it shelters the flowers in stormy weather, and it 
protects them from the scorching midday sun ; these 
objects are attained without depriving the flower of 
light and air, which are essential in bringing to per- 
fection the beautiful and intense colours of the dahlia. 
This protector is made of wicker-work, and consists of 
an inverted shallow basket, to which is attached a tube 
made of the same material, through which the dahlia 
stick is passed, and a peg being inserted between the 
stick and the tube, it is firmly secured at any height 
required. It measures 12 inches diameter in the 
widest part, and is 3i in depth. From its being 
made of so light a material, and from its simplicity of 
construction, it is not easily displaced or put out of 
order, and the flower not being confined within any 
thing, is less liable to be damaged by coming in contact 
with any substance that would injure the petals. It 
requires to be painted to preserve it from decay, and 



84 



if the outside be made green, and the inside white, 
the appearance of them would not be disagreeable, 
and the insects lurking inside would be easily per- 
ceived. (Gard. Chron. 1841, 181.) 

Another shade is made of hazel-rods from two feet 
to seven feet long, according to the height of the 
flower to be shaded, and about an inch in diameter ; 
point them at one end, to insert in the ground, and 
nail on the other a thin piece of deal six or eight 
inches square. 



The board must have a hole in the centre to admit 
the stem, and by making a cut with a saw from the 
outside to the hole in the centre, the flower may be 
slipped through without injury ; and to keep it in its 
position the branch may be tied to the rod. When 
the flower is fixed, invert a pot over it sufficiently 
large to cover it without touching the petals, and the 
blossom will be protected without injury, and all the 
beautiful shades of colour preserved which otherwise 




85 



would be destroyed by the sun-light, the hole in 
the bottom of the pot admitting sufficient. The 
flowers should be placed under the pots when little 
more than half blown, and in hot dry weather they 
will be benefited if the pots are taken off, immersed 
in water, and replaced during the heat of the day. 
In rainy weather the wet should be excluded by put- 
ting a piece of slate over the hole of the pot, which 
also prevents earwigs from entering ; if this were done 
every night, and the board oiled, these dahlia pests 
would be almost entirely driven away. To prevent 
the pot from being blown off, a few nails should be 
driven round the outside of it, or it may be tied on 
with matting.* (Gard Chron. 1841, 165.) 

A third description of shade is made of wire, and 
covered with paper or canvass, which, to stand the 
weather well, should be painted. The form of the 
shade may be as shown in the next diagram : the stick 
on which it is fixed should have a few holes through 
it, at different heights, through either of which 
holes a peg may be thrust, to keep the shade at its 
proper height, and the stick may be stuck in the 
ground upright, or sloping, whichever is best adapted 
for the purpose of keeping off wind, rain, and sun ; 

* The pot does not require to be made fast, but should be 
removed as soon as the sun has left the blooms, leaving them 
exposed for a few hours, if the weather is fine, during the even- 
ing. 



S6 



and the stem of the flower to be preserved should be 
tied to the stick itself, to keep it steady ; and great 
care must be taken to cut away any leaves, branches, 
or buds, that can be blown against the flower by the 
wind : for the slightest leaf will fray and spoil a 
bloom if it rub against it but a few minutes, (Gard. 
and FJor. h\ 29.) 

The Norwich growers have two, we may say three, 
kinds of covers, for they have solid ones made for 
covering np dark, thus — 




They have also glass covers to cover up "light : but 
an improvement has been adopted — a cover like a 
flower-pot, without a bottom, that they can cover 




87 



either with a glass to let in light, or with a piece of 
wood to keep it dark. 

These have a groove in the bottom to allow the 
glass or the wood to be cut round to fit it, so that the 
wind will not blow them away ; but an improvement 
would be to use a cover made of the same material as 
the pot, so that, without taking the glass off, the 
flower might be darkened. (Gard. and Flor. ii. 29.) 

But the most elegant and effectual shelter and 
shade is that designed by Mr. Turner, florist, of 
Chalvey, near Slough, the co-editor of this volume. 
Its other merits are, that it is simple in structure, 
managed with ease, and adapted for general purposes. 
It is suitable for all flowers — dahlias, roses, pinks, 
pansies, &c. — and, from the simplicity of its con- 
struction and easy management, it can be placed at 

4 




88 



any required height the length of the stalk allows, 
and that instantly. 

The shade is made of tin, 10^- inches in diameter, 
the band 2% inches broad, and the crown rises about 
3 inches : to the shade is attached a tube, furnished 
with a spring (fig. A), which, when the stake is in- 
troduced, presses it firmly, and keeps the shade at 
the height required. The spring, in this instance, 
was made of double tin, but a well-constructed spring 
would be an improvement, and be less liable to get 
out of order. A screw would be better than a spring, 
as represented in the annexed cut. They are painted 
white inside and out ; but their appearance in a gar- 
den would be less objectionable if the outside received 
a coat of green. When the flowers are tall, the stem 
should be tied to the stake to prevent injury from 
motion caused by the wind. 

Autumn frosts. — These destroy at once the beauty 
of the dahlia, not only by injuring its petals, but by 
breaking down the tissue of its leaves. They are 
thus rendered more unsightly than ornamental, but, 
if it be again cultivated the following year, on no ac- 
count cut down the stems early in the autumn, for 
this will ensure the rotting of the tubers through the 
winter, from their immature state, and the superabun- 
dance of fluids the roots contain. We have experi- 
enced this from those which we have been compelled 
to cut down in conspicuous situations perishing, whilst 



89 



others, which had their injured parts only removed, 
and their roots protected from heavy rains by having 
a layer of dry old tan placed round them, were pre- 
served in health. (Gard. Ckron. 1841, 601.) 

Autumn and Winter treatment. — Although it is in- 
jurious to remove the stems which have been damaged 
by frost early in autumn, yet Mr. Sabine was quite cor- 
rect in directing that, later in that season, soon after 
the leaves and young branches of the plants have been 
destroyed by the frost, they should be cut down. Those 
which are to be left in the ground must be protected 
by small heaps of dead leaves or tan, and if kept quite 
free from the attack of frost, or injury by damp, will 
grow well the next season. But it will, in general, be 
advisable, especially with the more valuable kinds, to 
raise them from the ground with their roots and 
tubers entire, retaining a small portion of the stem 
attached, to plant them in pots in dry mould or sand, 
and so keep them in the back of a green-house, or 
other dry and airy place, free from the access of frost 
until the spring. The object of the preservation of 
the roots during the winter, is to keep them suffici- 
ently moist to preserve them plnmp, and yet not so 
as to be rotted by damp or spoiled by frost ; any 
situation, therefore, where this can be effected, will 
answer equally with the more troublesome plan of 
potting each root : they will do very well if laid on a 
cool floor in a greenhouse or fruit-room, and may then 



90 



be covered with coal-ashes, sand, or other dry sub- 
stance ; but when thus covered, they should be placed 
with their crowns erect, and exposed to the air ; the 
under parts of the roots only should be covered over, 
exactly as if they were planted. (Hort. Soc. Trans.) 

Take care that each root has its name attached to 
it, written on a piece of lead or zinc, and fastened to 
it by wire. 

We are of opinion that the unnatural treatment of 
dahlia tubers, such as storing them for months quite 
dry, and then forcing them to produce an unusual 
amount of shoots in the spring, will by degrees bring 
upon this flower disease similar to that which ravaged 
the potato last year. "We are sustained in this opin- 
ion by the fact, that dahlias out all winter in open 
beds, without any protection whatever, are much 
more strong and healthy than those the roots of 
which have been wintered under cover in pits. And 
Dr. Lindley goes so far as to state as his opinion, that 
dahlias might be rendered hardy without much trou- 
ble ; and that, by being out all winter, they would be 
less liable to be affected by frost early in autumn. 
(Ibid. 1844, 336.) 

Examine the stored roots during winter, lest any 
should get mildewed, or begin to decay. If mil- 
dewed, they must be wiped clean, and dried, by being 
laid on the hot water pipes or the flues of the green- 
house, or before a fire ; and those which indicate rot 



91 



must hare every spot cut away : some may be found 
shrivelling ; these should be potted directly, but not 
forced until the usual time. (Gard. and Flor. ii. 31.) 

Groicing Dahlias in dwarf 'masses. — Mr. Pax ton 
has given the following directions for effecting this 
growth. Dahlias of a dwarf and peculiarly florescent 
habit only are suitable for this purpose ; an old kind, 
called Ranunculiflora, is held in estimation. In rais- 
ing the plants, attention should be directed to prevent 
them being highly stimulated, or luxuriance of dispo- 
sition created, it being unfavourable to a satisfactory 
production of bloom. The soil to grow them in 
should be selected of a free, rather light, and perhaps 
slightly poor description. In planting, the plants 
should be placed so as to b2 nearly flat on the surface 
of the soil, and secured with a hooked peg. After 
management consists in pegging down, as they con- 
tinue to grow, the leading and main lateral shoots, 
leaving the remainder to rise and flower unsecured, 
excepting in case of their extending so much upwards 
as to break the uniform appearance of the mass ; few 
shoots require more than once fastening. Care must 
be taken that in bringing any down they are not 
broken off or injured ; the surest preventive against 
which is to go over the plants regularly, fastening the 
shoots down while they are young. Some branches 
will require cutting away to prevent the plants crowd- 
ing upon each other. Managed in accordance with 



92 



these directions, the main point, choosing proper 
kinds, being regarded, a splendid mass of bloom, 
finely contrasting with dark green stems and foliage, 
the whole rising from a foot to two feet high, pro- 
duces in appropriate situations a very fine and unusual 
effect. (PaxtorCs Magazine.) 

Growing in Pots. — To grow dahlias in pots, you 
must select the dwarfer and more freely flowering 
kinds, the taller ones being totally unsuited for that 
purpose. After they are started, and when the shoots 
are about three or four inches long, pot them singly 
into small 60s, in any light rich soil ; water them 
freely, and place them in a hotbed, keeping them 
close for a day or two, and shading them during sun- 
shine. They will (if properly attended to) be rooted 
in about 10 days, and should then be removed to a 
much cooler place, and have plenty of air. When 
well established, shift them into larger pots, and 
finally, before placing them out of doors, repot them 
either in 12s or 8s, according to the size of your 
plants. Top the leading shoots to make them bushy ; 
and when the danger of frost is over, they may be 
plunged in the open border, which saves much labour 
in watering ; but even then they must be watered co- 
piously in dry weather. They will flower freely all the 
summer and autumn, although the blooms will not be 
so fine upon plants grown in pots as upon those in the 
open border. After flowering, cut the tops off, and 



93 



place the pots containing the roots in any dry cellar, 
or other place where they will be secure from frost 
during the winter. Young plants struck from cut- 
tings, flower much better in pots than the old roots. 
{Gard. Chron. 1842, 353.) 

If early blooms are desired, small roots should be 
selected, as they are always the most forward in vege- 
tation. 



FORCING. 

The dahlia bears forcing, without detriment to its 
peculiar beauties, better than most florist's flowers, 
and apparently because the rapidity of growth being 
inimical to the production of the prime organs of re- 
production, by so much are friendly to the develop- 
ment of this double flower ; those organs being trans- 
formed into petals. Be this as it may, the dahlia 
bears forcing, with little prejudice to its beauty ; by 
potting the tubers in February, and allowing the pots 
to remain within a frame, or in a cool greenhouse, 
until June, when they will begin to bloom, and they 
may be turned out then into the open borders. 

To hasten them still more, and further to prolong 
their endurance, the following system may be adopted; 
for, although out of doors, the dahlia yields flowers 



94 



later and more strongly when not raised in heat ; yet, 
to have early flowers a hotbed is necessary. Keep 
the tubers dry and warm, and so soon as they start 
pot them, leaving the crowns about one inch above 
the soil. When the shoots are sufficiently long, shift 
them into large 60-sized pots, and keep them in a 
room having a south aspect, but without fire. They 
will flower from early in June until the end of Novem- 
ber. (Gard. Chron. 1845, 70.) 

We have already averted to the groundless condem- 
nation with which the florist is occasionally visited, 
because the plants furnished by him to the amateur, 
do not, the first season, appear to have the excellent 
qualities possessed by its parent. We alluded to the 
causes of this, and warned our readers against a 
hasty conclusion ; but since those observations were 
penned, we have met with the following excellent 
observations by Dr. Lindley, and as they relate to the 
consequences of forcing the dahlia, they may be here 
introduced appropriately. 

The dahlia, observes Dr. Lindley, when it first 
springs from a seed, begins to form a fleshy-fingered 
root, in which is immediately stored up the organiz- 
able matter elaborated by the leaves, and out of 
w r hich the flower is to be formed. If the summer 
is long and warm, or circumstances are otherwise 
favourable, this plant will flower the first year, but 
feebly, and by no means so well as it will at a later 



95 



period. If the fleshy roots are allowed to remain un- 
touched during the first winter, the store of food in 
them is undiminished ; and the second year the seed- 
ling will flower with all the attributes that may be 
peculiar to it, there being a constant supply of organ- 
izable matter from the roots equal to the demand that 
may be made upon it. But if the root is allowed to 
go on enlarging and filling with such matter for a 
third year, the quantity then stored up becomes so 
great that over-luxuriance is induced, and leaves are 
produced in more abundance than flowers ; and thus 
the beauty of the individual is impaired. If, on the 
other hand, a root well prepared for flowering in the 
most perfect manner is forced continually to produce 
shoots which are abstracted for cuttings, it by degrees 
becomes exhausted of the organizable matter stored 
up in it, and at last the cuttings contain so little mat- 
ter of that kind, that they are in the same state as 
seedling plants — namely, possessed of the power of 
growth, but destitute of any supply of properly pre- 
pared matter out of which perfect flowers can be 
formed. The consequence of this is, that plants ob- 
tained from early cuttings flower well ; from the next 
supply, worse ; from a third crop, worse still ; and so 
on. Again, if a dahlia plant struck from a cutting ill- 
prepared, or even well-prepared, to flower, is itself 
compelled to furnish other cuttings, it will become 
exhausted by the cuttings it has yielded, because it 



96 



has no supply of organizable matter on which to 
draw ; and these cuttings will produce plants in a still 
further stage of debility. 

If these statements are rightly understood, they 
will he found to explain some things that the buyers 
of dahlias do not seem to be aware of. Many an 
honest nurseryman has been regarded with suspicion 
by his customers, because the dahlia plants that he 
has sold have not answered to sample ; in other 
words, because they have produced flowers very infe- 
rior to those of the variety they have been sold for. 
And yet, in reality, the vendor has been perfectly cor- 
rect in his dealing, but the plants he has propagated, 
have been debilitated by the excessive demand for 
them. No blame can attach to a nurseryman for 
this. When a seedling is raised, it is but a single 
plant ; it gains prizes, is talked of, and gets into re- 
quest ; and straightway hundreds of plants have to be 
propagated from that one, in order to meet the 
sudden demand which, under such circumstances, is 
sure to arise. Of these plants, a large proportion must 
necessarily produce bad flowers the first year; but 
they will recover their character the second year, and 
for that second season all reasonable florists will be 
content to wait. (Ibid. 1841, 227.) 



97 



DISEASES. 

Gangrene of the Tubers. — This putrefaction 
of the dahlia tubers, like that which of late years has 
appeared more generally in those of the potato, ap- 
pears to be occasioned by unnatural treatment ; such 
as sudden transition from extreme dryness to moist- 
ness, from high to lower temperatures, &c. ; for it 
afflicts, chiefly, those tubers which have, been kept dry 
through the winter, and are removed to the open soil 
in the spring ; that have been preternaturally forced 
to emit shoots, and then are committed to the natural 
soil and temperatures of our climate. The obvious 
remedy is more natural treatment. 

Instead of keeping the tubers throughout the 
winter dry, and freely exposed to the air, let them be 
stored in sand or earth gently moist ; or let them re- 
main under an extra depth — about a foot — of soil in 
the borders where grown.* 

Running, or Variableness of Colour. — Dahlias, like 
many other flowers, are subject to this mutability or 
uncertainty of colour, and which, in some, is so strik- 
ing as to have given rise to their specific names. 
Gladiolus versicolor and Hibiscus mutabilis are very 
notable examples of this protean quality. 

* This subject is more fully discussed in the first volume of 
this series, " The Potato; its Culture, &c." 

H 



98 



The cause of this changeability is somewhat uncer- 
tain. It is upon the oxygen, combined with their 
parenchyma, that the colour of a petal depends ; for 
sulphurous acid (the fume arising from a burning 
match), w T hich has a most powerful affinity for oxy- 
gen, destroys the hue of all coloured flowers, though 
it leaves that of white flowers unchanged. Mr. Smith- 
son's experiments, and those of M. Schubler, seem 
to indicate that the colouring matter of flowers and 
fruits is fundamentally blue — rendered red by acids 
or the addition of oxygen, or yellow by the presence 
of an alkali or the subtraction of oxygen. Mr. Smith- 
son says that the colouring matter of the violet is the 
same in the ruddy tips of the daisy, geranium, blue 
hyacinth, hollyhock, lavender, and various plums, in 
the leaves of the red cabbage, and in the rind of the 
salmon raddish. The acid which causes the red tint 
seems to be usually the carbonic. 

Remarking upon the mutability of colour in some 
dahlias, a very sensible writer has observed, that such 
has been the improvement in this flower that it would 
be almost impossible to recognize Antagonist, Cleopa- 
tra, Essex Bride, Marchioness of Ormonde, Lady 
Antrobus, Admiral Stopford, Beauty of England, or 
Oakley's Surprise, as descendants from the star- 
shaped Dahlia variabilis , introduced about the year 
1800 ; but although the single purple and yellow 
dahlias of that day have been changed into colours 



99 



far more brilliant, and of almost every tint — and al- 
though an ideal form of symmetry has been all but 
obtained, as in Keyne's Standard of Perfection — yet 
one thing still remains to be accomplished, viz., the 
fixing of colour in those usually called " fancy" varie- 
ties. This has hitherto baffled the skill of the most 
experienced cultivators. AVhy purple flowers with 
white tips should be inconstant, and white flowers 
with purple tips remain constant, has alike puzzled 
the botanist and florist ; no two persons agree as to 
the cause, or have been able to suggest a certain re- 
medy. Some attribute it to richness of soil, but 
proof is not wanting that it occurs very often upon 
the poorest lands — even upon sand and gravel ; others 
suppose it to be occasioned by a humid atmosphere ; 
but although these may be, and no doubt are, acces- 
sories, it must be obvious that they are not the pri- 
mary cause. In Paris, where the soil is poor, and 
the summer and autumn usually dry and hot, there 
is as great an uncertainty as in the comparatively 
damp atmosphere of Belgium and England ; one sea- 
son they may be seen true, the next selfs. Some- 
times a plant will only produce two or three good 
flowers ; at other times one branch will be found 
bearing variegated flowers ; others will come constant 
here, but bad elsewhere ; in fact, so uncertain is the 
whole race of tipped flowers, that not one single va- 
riety can, with any certainty, be guaranteed to keep 
h 2 



ICO 



its colour. Many of them are said to be constant, 
but that has only reference to some particular locality. 
The selfsame kind has been found totally different 
elsewhere ; for instance, Oakley's Surprise, Modesta^ 
La Lionne, and Beauty of England, are of this num. 
ber. There is no doubt that the disease may be ac- 
celerated by richness of soil and pruning ; on th e 
other hand, it is in some degree prevented by planting 
pieces of old roots instead of yearly cuttings ; it is 
true, the flowers will not be so large, but certainly 
much earlier, very abundant, and more constant. A 
still better plan is to flower pieces of roots in 12 or 
1 6-sized pots, plunged an inch or two below the sur- 
face ; but it is best of all (at least, such is the opinion 
of French florists) to graft all tipped varieties ; and 
certainly no one can walk through the Paris markets 
in June, July, and August, without being struck with 
the number and beauty of fancy dahlias : you may 
see hundreds of plants, from 18 inches to 2 feet in 
height, with blooms as regularly tipped as you could 
possibly desire. (Gard. Chron. 1845, 102.) 

We have no doubt ourselves, that the variableness 
of colour is mainly, if not entirely, dependant upon 
the fertility of the soil, and that the discordance of 
opinion arises from a non-attention to the particular 
colour which is the subject of change. It is a matter 
of certainty that more colouring matter is developed 
by plants growing upon a rich soil, than by others of 



101 



the same species vegetating at the same time upon a 
poorer soil ; and we have also observed, that fancy 
dahlias, in which white predominates, growing on a 
rich soil, have in every flower more of the dark colour 
peculiar to them, than the specimens growing on less 
fertile ground. But where the dark colour predomi- 
nates, this is liable to vary, and to give way to the paler 
colour associated with it in the florets, when cultivated 
on a poorer soil. 

We have little doubt but that it was a dahlia with 
white or other light colour predominating, which was 
the subject of the experiments mentioned by a writer 
in Hovey's "Magazine of Horticulture." He says, 
that striped dahlias will be best kept clean by planting 
them in poor soil, while rich soil invariably runs 
them. He relates the following experiment with a 
variety called Striata formosissi?na, in which he is 
confirmed by Mr. Hovey, who says he has the same 
results. No. 1, planted in poor, gravelly soil, in an 
open situation, had all the flowers but two beautifully 
mottled. No. 2, planted upon a rich, cool, sandy 
loam, had not one-half of its flowers mottled. No 3, 
three plants in a soil very highly enriched, had every 
bloom but one self-coloured. 

Change of Form, — Fancy dahlias are quite as 
liable to this variation as to mutability of colour, 
and it is quite, if not more singular than variation of 
colour. The complete difference which is often ob- 



102 



servable in the size and form of petal of a tipped 
flower and a self of the same variety, and not unfre- 
quently upon the same plant, as in Modesta, Nihill 
Surprise, Striata rosea, Esmeralda, and others, is very 
striking. So great is the alteration, that no one could 
know them to be the same sorts, except from their 
foliage and habit of growth. No one can hesitate 
from agreeing that this change also arises from the 
different degrees of fertility possessed by the soils on 
w r hich they are grown. 



INSECTS. 

Every part of the dahlia is subject to predatory at- 
tacks : its tubers to those of the wireworm ; its leaves 
to those of the aphis and slug; and its flowers to 
those of the earwig. 

The Wireworm, which attacks the tubers of the 
dahlia, is the larva of a species of click beetle, spring 
beetle, or skip jack, bearing the specific entomologica, 
name of Elater spatator. It similarly attacks the 
potato, carrot, and lettuce. 

This insect belongs to the order Coleoptera, or 
beetles, and to the family of Elateridae. There are 
nearly seventy species natives of the British Isles, but 
there are only six of the Elater genus, and to these 



103 



Mr. Stephens has applied the generic name of Cata- 
phagus, as indicative of the destructively devouring 
powers of their larvse. Their ravages are the more to 
be dreaded because the larva remains in the form po- 
pularly known as the wireworm for five years, dur- 
ing the whole of which time it is preying upon the 
roots of plants. 

The four species, the wireworms of which are most 
injurious to our crops, are the Elater sputator, E. ru- 
ficaulis, E. obscurus, and E. lineatus. As the habits 
of these are for the most part similar, we extract the 
following general description of the click beetles and 
their larvae, as given by Mr. Cuthbert Johnson, in 
the Farmer s Encyclopcedia : — 

Click beetles are readily known by having the ster- 
num produced behind in a strong spine fitted to enter 
a groove in the abdomen, situated between the inter- 
mediate pair of legs. By bringing these parts sud- 
denly into contact, the insects are enabled to spring 
to some height into the air, and thus recover their 
natural position when they happen to fall on their 
backs, which they frequently do when dropping from 
plants to the ground. A special provision of this 
kind is rendered necessary in consequence of the 
shortness and weakness of their legs. 

The wireworms have a long, slender, and cylindri- 
cal body, covered by a hard crust, which has obtained 
for them the above name. They are composed of 



104 



twelve segments, fitting closely to each other; and are 
provided with six conical scaly feet, placed in pairs on 
the three segments next the head. The latter is 
furnished with short antennae, palpi, and two strong 
mandibles or jaws. 

To remove the wireworm from a soil, no mode is 
known but frequently digging it, and picking them 
out, as their yellow colour renders them easily de- 
tected. To prevent their attack upon a crop, mix a 
little spirit of tar, or a larger quantity of gas-lime, with 
the soil. It has been stated that growing white mus- 
tard drives them away, and it it is certainly worth the 
trial. To entrap them, and tempt them away from a 
crop they have attacked, bury potatoes in the soil 
near the crop ; and if each potato has a stick thrust 
through it, this serves as a handle by which it may 
be taken up, and the wireworms which have pene- 
trated it be destroyed. To decoy them from beds of 
anemones, ranunculuses, &c, it is said to be a suc- 
cessful plan to grow round the beds an edging of 
daisies, for the roots of which they have a decided 
preference. 

If a crop be attacked, as the pansy or carnation, 
our only resource is to bury in the soil other vegetable 
matters, of which they are fonder than they are of 
the roots of those flowers. Potatoes, with a string 
tied round them to mark where they are, and to faci- 
litate their being taken out of the soil in which they 



105 



are buried ; and carrots similarly thrust into the earth 
where the wireworm is ravaging, are successful lures. 
The vermin prefers these, buries itself in them, and 
may be easily removed. The roots of the white mus- 
tard also are said to drive the wireworm away from 
the soil on which it is grown. {Brit, Farm. Mag.) 

Mr. Glenny says, that Mr. May, nurseryman, Tot- 
tenham, plants the common daisy round his principal 
beds, finding the wireworm prefer it to the carrot. 
(Gard. Gazette?) 

And Mr. Oram, Edmonton, says that the double 
daisy is employed by one of his friends, who, in one 
summer, from a row of daisies three hundred feet 
long, has taken 2,000 wireworms. (Gard. Chron.) 

It is not generally known that the mole destroys 
great numbers of the wireworm, nor that pheasants 
are very fond of them. Mr. Westwood says, he has 
heard of instances where the crops of these birds have 
been found to be filled with wireworms. 

Slices of lettuce are found to be more alluring to 
the wireworm than even slices of potato or of carrot, 
and more than one respectable testimony can be ad- 
duced that if lettuces are grown among dahlias, which 
they may be, easily, without being seen, the roots of 
the latter will always remain untouched. Whatever 
lures are employed these should be examined daily, 
the wireworms they contain be destroyed, and fresh 
slices introduced as requisite. 



106 



Nitrate of soda has been recommended as offensive 
to the wireworms, and it may be so, but we can de- 
cidedly recommend, both as offensive and destructive 
to this marauder, the gas lime. This, which is an 
impure sulphuret of lime, and mixed also with sul- 
phureted hydrogen, is most destructive of insect life. 
Earl Talbot has tried it extensively on his farms, and 
reported it to the Royal Agricultural Society as highly 
efficacious. 

The Earwig (Forficula auricularia) is an insect too 
well known to need particular description ; yet, com- 
mon as it is, few persons are aware that it is a winged 
insect, and that all such remedies as tying wool, &c. 
round the stems of dahlias to prevent its ascent are 
consequently nugatory. The wings are transparent, 
of large size, and, when expanded, are shaded like a 
fan. When not in use, they are folded up beneath 
two small horny wing-cases, and being quite concealed, 
to common observers the insect appears wingless. It 
delights in shady, damp places, and advantage is 
taken of this to entrap it near the flowers on which it 
feeds. 

The petals of the dahlia are its favourite food ; and 
Mr. Marnock, in remarking upon this, justly observes, 
that blooms for ornament and for exhibition are two 
very different things : the former should be looked for 
in varieties of small growth, which throw their blos- 
soms well out from the foliage, and are of a decided 



107 



colour ; and so long as they are tolerably double, no- 
thing first-rate is required as to form and such like 
properties. For exhibition the case is different ; no 
matter what the habit, hardly the colour, so long as 
the form and arrangement of the flowor can be 
brought near to the ideal of perfection. One of the 
greatest obstacles in the way of this is the ravages of 
the earwig, which always is" productive of more or 
less injury. To avoid this, various plans are resorted 
to for trapping these vermin, such as hanging bean- 
stalks, or any other hollow tubes, among the plants ; 
or inverting small pots, partly filled with moss or lit- 
tery hay, on the stakes, and then examining them 
every morning, and destroying all the earwigs which 
have sought concealment there.* But this is not 
enough : the flowers must be fixed in the centre of, 
and just above, small temporary tables, and covered 
completely during night, and partially daring the day, 
by inserting a flower-pot over each ; cotton, wool, or 
other means being also used to prevent the insect 
crawling up through the slits made to admit the stalk 
of the blooms to the centre of the boards. Some use 

* That a garden-pot upon the summit of the dahlia stake is 
not ornamental, must be readily admitted, though its offensive- 
ness is much mitigated if the pot be painted green. Small or- 
namental cupolas, similarly painted, would be far preferable, 
and a clumsy attempt at this is represented at p. 190 of the 
Gardener's Magazine , vol. 5, N-.SL 



108 



glass instead of pots, but generally shade is preferred, 
though often indulged in to an extreme. However 
artificial the blooms may be which are thus protected, 
they are far more beautiful both in sunny and stormy 
weather than others which are not protected, as well 
as being preserved from the depredations of the ear- 
wigs. (Gard. Jount. 1845, 600.) 

No labour should be spared by the dahlia grower 
in searching for these insects, and Mr. Glenny wisely 
advises that it should be begun from the moment the 
plants are out. Bean-stalks, small flower-pots, and 
hollow tubes of any kind, should be placed close to 
them w r hen they are first planted, and be examined 
twice or three times a day. One earwig killed early 
may prevent the plague of a whole brood ; and the 
cultivator w T ho neglects the precaution because there 
are so few, little thinks of the consequence of not 
destroying the heads of families. In short, if this 
early and apparently troublesome method be not per- 
severed in, ten examinations per day will hardly keep 
them down when the blooming time arrives. "When 
the plants are small, the pots which the plants come 
out of should, with a bit of moss put inside, be placed 
on sticks a foot high ; bean-stalks, in six-inch lengths, 
should be laid on the ground ; and every earwig trap- 
ped at this early period is worth a hundred taken in 
blooming time. Let a boy go round three or four 
times a day, if there be any quantity ; but if you can 



109 



attend to this work yourself, do it. {Gard. and Flor. 
i. 22.) 

Thrips ochraceous is a minute plague, nibbling off 
the blooms, and leaving white patches and specks ; 
and if they infest a plant before it blooms, its growth 
is checked, and sometimes past recovery. The thrips 
being a fly is not easily destroyed ; but, as in the 
case of the aphides on out-of-door plants, they cannot 
be smoked to death, the next resource is syringing 
with tobacco-water or soapsuds, or even clear water ; 
for many will be destroyed every time, and continual 
disturbance has a good benefit, even if they are not 
killed. {Gard. and Flor. i. 22.) 

The Thrips ochraceous is of the same genus, and 
very much resembles that tittilating insect (Thrips 
physapus) so tormenting to the face in summer. It 
is narrow and linear, of a bright and deep ochreous 
colour, the eyes are black, the horns appear to be 
only six-jointed, and brownish at the tips ; it has 
three ocelli in the crown ; the body is hairy, the tip 
pointed and bristly ; the wings are shorter than the 
body in the male, lying parallel on the back when at 
rest, narrow, especially the under ones, and fringed ; 
the hairs longest beneath and at the point ; tips of 
feet dusky. {Gard. Chron.) 



110 



USES. 

Eve^ part of the dahlia may be usefully employed 
in times of need. 

Stalks and Leaves. — In Prussia, these have been 
found to make a wholesome food for pigs, sheep, and 
asses ; they are also eaten by deer and cows, and 
they are, in a dried state, readily eaten by lambs and 
young goats. When cultivated as cattle food, the 
stalks may be cut over two or three times in one 
season. The tubers may be eaten both by men and 
cattle, but they are neither so agreeable nor so nou- 
rishing as those of the potato. {Prussian Hort. 
Trans, i.) 

The Tubers. — The reason of these not being palat- 
able, though those of the congenous plant, the Jeru- 
salem Artichoke, are generally relished, arises from 
the former containing a bitter principle of so acrid a 
nature, that its general employment as food has always 
been hitherto despaired of. The Journal de Charn- 
bery states, however, that this bitter principle is re- 
moved by boiling, much in the same manner as the 
potato is cooked. If this be so — but we have no ex- 
perience on the point — the dahlia root might, in some 
measure, be substituted for the potato during times of 
scarcity. (Medical Times.) 

Flowers. — We have seen a specimen of a kind of 



Ill 



carmine, yen* brilliant and very pure, obtained by 
Mr. Rupprecht, of Vienna, from the florets of the 
dahlia. He regards it as a valuable product, and 
says that he has obtained 235lbs. of pigment from 
200 square fathoms of land. It has already been 
applied to staining confectionery, artificial flowers, 
fancy paper and leather, and in the preparation of 
rouge. It seems, however, too fleeting for silks and 
cottons. Only the deep clear purple dahlias will yield 
it. (Gard. Chron. 1841, 119.) 



WINCHESTER ! 
H. WO OLD RIDGE. PRINTER. HIGH-STREET. 



THE 

GARDENER'S MONTHLY VOLUME. 

EDITED BY GEORGE W. JOHNSON, ESQ. 
Author of " The Dictionary of Modem Gardening " " The 
Gardener's Almanack," fyc. 
AIDED BY SOME OF THE BEST PRACTICAL GARDENERS. 



No work on Gardening: exists containing within its pages all the informa- 
tion relative to each object of the art that the modern progress of knowledge 
has elicited. This is no fault of the authors, who have gathered together 
masses of horticultural knowledge. 

To remedy this admitted deficiency, the series of "The Gardener's 
Monthly Volume" has been undertaken. Each volume will be devoted 
to one or more plants cultivated by the gardener ; and will combine all that 
is useful to be known of each connected with its history, chemical and bo- 
tanical qualities, modes of culture, uses, diseases, parasitical marauders, 
and any other relative information ; richly illustrated wherever illustrations 
will be of utility. 

Each volume being of itself a book, purchasers may select only such as 
may suit their wants ; whilst those who take the entire series will possess 
the most ample store of horticultural knowledge that has ever appeared in 
a collected form. 

A volume, bound in cloth, price half- a- cro wn, will appear on the 1st of 
every month ; and, at the same time, to suit the convenience of purchasers, 
in half- volumes, with stitched covers, price one shilling each. 



The volumes already published are — 

Jan. 1.— THE POTATO; ITS CULTURE, USES, AND HISTORY. 
By the Editor. 

Feb. 1.— THE CUCUMBER AND THE GOOSEBERRY; THEIR 
CULTURE, USES, AND HISTORY. By the Editor. 

March 1.— THE VINE (Out-door Culture, &c.) By the Editor, 
and R. Errington, Gardener to Sir P. Egerton, Bart. 

April 1.— THE VINE (In-door Culture, &c.) By the same. 

May 1.— THE AURICULA; Its Culture, &c. Bv the Editor, and 
J. Slater, Florist, Manchester. THE ASPARAGUS ; Its Cul- 
ture, &c. By the Editor and R. Errington, Gardener to Sir P. 
Egerton, Bart. Each complete in Half a Volume. 

June 1.— THE PINE APPLE. Vol.1. By the Editor, and James 
Barnes, Gardener to Lady Rolle, Bicton, Devonshire. 

July 1.— THE PINE APPLE. Vol.11. By the same. 

August 1— THE STRAWBERRY. By the Editor and Robert 
Reid, Gardener to Mrs. Clarke, Noblethorpe Hall, near Barnsley. 



LOXDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, and CO., Paternos- 
ter Row. WINCHESTER : H. WOOLDRIDGE. 



On October 1st, 

THE PEACH; 

ITS CULTURE, USES, AND HISTORY. 

By the Editor and It. Errington, Gardener to 
Sir Philip Egerton, Bart. 



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